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But president has yet to endorse a national paid maternity leave Washington
President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States should join the rest of the industrialized world and offer paid leave for mothers of newborns. “Many women can’t even get a paid day off to give birth — now that’s a pretty low bar,” Obama said at the White House Summit on Working Families. “That, we should be able to take care of.” While some companies offer
paid family leave to attract workers, the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act only requires that employers provide unpaid leave for medical and family reasons. Obama praised California, Rhode Island and New Jersey for creating a state benefit. But he has not endorsed legislation that would create a similar national system funded by a payroll tax, and he pledged in his 2008 presidential campaign not to raise taxes on families making under $250,000 a year. When Obama came to the White House, he instituted six weeks of paid leave for his workers when they have a child, get sick or injured or need to care for an ailing family
CHARLES DHARAPAK (AP)
Obama to Employers: Be Family-Friendly
During the summit Monday, President Barack Obama said that getting to hold other people’s babies is a big job perk: “I get this baby fix like, two or three times a week.”
member, using his authority to set his staff’s compensation under the personnel code. He does not have the power to award paid leave to
NEDR A PICKLER (AP)
In Miss. Senate Runoff, Racial Politics Churn
BIDEN FILES
(No) Money Talks With Hillary Rodham Clinton’s fortune, or perceived lack thereof, making headlines, Vice President Joe Biden decided to share his own status Monday. ”Don’t hold it against me that I don’t own … a single stock or bond,” Biden said. “I have no savings accounts. But I got a great pension and I got a good salary.” His net worth according to 2013 financial documents: between negative $336,804 and negative $2.3 million. (THE WASHINGTON POST )
Jackson, Miss. Race is roiling the Republican Senate runoff in Mississippi, a state with a long history of racially divided politics where the GOP is mostly white and the Democratic Party is mostly black. National tea party groups say they are working to “ensure a free and fair election” by sending several dozen observers to precincts to watch who votes during today’s GOP contest, concerned about six-
Cochran
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“Thad Cochran and his establishment handlers are out trolling, begging for Democrats to cross over and vote in the Republican runoff,” Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund chairwoman Jenny Beth Martin said in announcing that her group and two others have hired an attorney to watch today’s primary. While Cochran rarely mentions race, he readily acknowledges he’s seeking support from black and white voters. “I think it’s important for
everybody to participate,” he says. “Voting rights has been an issue of great importance in Mississippi.” Cochran’s campaign staff believes he would get a boost if voters who traditionally go for Democrats — black voters and union members — participate in the GOP runoff. The GOP nominee will be a heavy favorite in November, and several prominent black Democrats are supporting the incumbent as preferable to his primary challenger. EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS (AP)
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McDaniel
term Sen. Thad Cochran’s efforts to persuade Mississippi Democrats to cast ballots. Challenger Chris McDaniel and the tea party portray cross-party voting as dangerous and even illegal, though state law allows it.
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other federal workers without congressional action since they are covered under a different section of law. The White House has support-
ed the goal of legislation introduced by lawmakers to change that, but it has yet to get through Congress. “There is only one developed country in the world that does not offer paid maternity leave, and that is us,” Obama said. “And that is not the list you want to be on — on your lonesome. It’s time to change that.” Obama also encouraged employers to have more flexible work schedules and directed federal agencies to expand flexible work arrangements where possible. He also urged Congress to pass legislation requiring employers to accommodate pregnant employees so they can continue to perform their jobs.
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