For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Council President Riemer to Testify
Before U.S. House Subcommittee about Importance of Workplace Leave Laws
ROCKVILLE, Md.,—On Wednesday, December 6 at 10 a.m. Council President Hans Riemer will testify before the United States House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions on the importance of state and local governments, such as Montgomery County, being able to establish protections that guarantee workers access to paid sick days and paid family leave. Riemer will also stress the urgent need for strong federal policies. The hearing, entitled “Workplace Leave Policies: Opportunities and Challenges for Employers and Working Families,” will take place in Room 2715 of the Rayburn House Office Building at 45 Independence Ave., Washington, D.C. 20515.
Testifying on behalf of the County, Council President Riemer will discuss the importance of protecting the rights of state and local governments to set their own workplace policy standards above a federal floor. He will highlight Montgomery County’s Earned Sick and Safe Leave Law, which was passed in 2015 and made the County one of a growing number of jurisdictions in the United States that guarantee workers the right to earn sick and safe leave and to take that leave to handle medical emergencies, care for ailing family members, or escape domestic violence. The law was introduced by Councilmembers George Leventhal and Nancy Navarro and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Riemer, Branson, Elrich, and Hucker. It passed the Council unanimously.
“I was proud to work with my colleagues to develop an Earned Sick and Safe Leave Law that works for our community,” said Council President Riemer. “Montgomery County workers now have strong protections that ensure that a sudden illness or family emergency doesn’t require choosing between keeping a job and seeing the doctor. We can’t let Congress roll back this progress.”
“In Montgomery County as well as eight states and 31 localities, working people, advocates, business owners and elected leaders have won strong paid sick days laws that have made a tremendous difference for families and communities, and boosted the national movement to ensure every worker has access to paid sick time,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “Members of Congress must reject the underhanded and undemocratic H.R. 4219 and any other efforts to reverse this progress and undermine state and local control. Instead, they should prioritize the passage of policies like the Healthy Families Act, which would actually increase access to paid sick days, rather than take it away.”
More information about the hearing can be found here: https://edworkforce.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=402145
For questions or further information, contact Ken Silverman in the Office of Council President Riemer at 240-777-7830 or Ken.Silverman@montgomerycountymd.gov.
# # # #
Release ID: 17-381