AAUW-California-Governor-Guide(P26)

Paid Family Leave

Where do the candidates stand on expanding Paid Family Leave?

Unlike most developed nations, the United States does not guarantee paid time off for illness or family care, or paid parental leave. Without these policies, balancing the responsibilities of work and family is difficult - negatively impacting productivity, making recovery from illness or injury difficult, and in some cases inhibiting the healthy development of children. Policies are needed that promote work-life balance, including quality and affordable dependent care and paid family, medical, and sick leave.

The following issue areas related to Paid Family Leave were assessed:

Does the candidate support strengthening guarantees for employees to earn job-protected sick days and family leave in California?
Does the candidate support continued expansion of the California Family Rights Act, such as inclusion of chosen and extended family in bereavement leave?
Does the candidate support California legislation and other measures akin to the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act (S. 2823), which seeks to create a national paid family and medical leave insurance program?

Candidates' positions on Paid Family Leave were determined based publicly available information, such as press statements, voting records (in California or Federally), and campaign materials. All candidates were given the opportunity to respond directly to a member of AAUW California's Public Policy team. Candidates' positions on Paid Family Leave were then scored using the scale below, which gauges candidates' degree of alignment with AAUW California's public policy priorities and positions on Paid Family Leave.

If candidate responses or public records show that said candidate strongly opposes a key policy or topic within a larger issue area (e.g., does not support policy that expands civil rights for all people), we have placed them in an “oppose” position to the entire issue area (e.g., protection of civil rights).