The following is a legislative update from State Senator Amanda Ragan, representing Franklin, Butler and Cerro Gordo counties:
MAKING WORK MORE FAMILY FRIENDLY
Family friendly policies and work places can help Iowa employers attract and retain the best employees. That’s good for our whole economy, and it’s why I’m focused on addressing the challenges working families face.
Child care
Iowa needs to make affordable, high-quality child care a reality for more families and providers.
Child care is a necessity for all working parents, but even more so in Iowa. According to Kids Count 2017, 75% of Iowa families with young children have all available parents in the labor force.
The high price of care forces many families to make tough choices, including compromising on quality of care, making career sacrifices and jeopardizing their economic security.
Organizations such as the United Way recommend increasing eligibility for child care subsidies to 200% of the federal poverty level because research shows it helps more families reach self-sufficiency.
I have filed a bill (SF 2110) to increase income eligibility for child care assistance over the next five years. This will allow more parents to keep their jobs and climb the ladder of success without nagging worries about their children’s safety.
The proposal also mitigates the “cliff effect” by allowing families to receive child care assistance while their income rises. There’s no reason that a raise of just 15 cents per hour should jeopardize a family’s eligibility for assistance, as well as their household budget.
Leave for adoptive parents
If an Iowa employer offers leave for parents of biological newborns, they must provide this same leave for parents who adopt, according to bipartisan legislation moving forward in the Senate this year.
SF 476 requires employers to treat an employee who chooses to adopt in the same manner as an employee who is the biological parent of a newborn child for the purposes of employment policies, benefits and protections for the first year after adopting.
According to the Department of Public Health, Iowa saw 1,793 adoptions in 2018. This commonsense bill will help ensure Iowa remains a family friendly place to live and work.
UPCOMING PUBLIC FORUM
Mason City Listening Post
Saturday, Feb. 8 at 10 AM – 11:30 AM
Mason City Public Library
225 2nd St SE, Mason City, Iowa 50401
This liberal bitch need to STFU, stop telling people how to run there business. Well we dam near took her out last time, wait till next time Rthis Ragan is gone.
Powers to be down to Des Moines, they was to dumb to know Minert would of beat Amana, went with that cow pie face bitch from Sheffield.
Ragan, she never should of got out of that kitchen, lets get her shes a communist bitch oh yes.
PeeWee is showing his intelligence again
I find it odd the Democrats are in favor of abortion, but then they say we need a more family-friendly workplace. Hmmm.
As Ms. Ragan, so often tells me in her canned email responses; Thank you for advocating.
I find it odd that Republicans are pro life but they are for killing people in wars, executions and cages on the border.
And absolutely none of those things happened under Obama, a Democrat. Yeah, right.
Family friendly work place + daycare = child labor
Company’s are already aware of this. The only thing stopping them is money. And, having the government involved only drives up cost with added regulations. Stay the hell out of our workplace. You Democrats have done enough damage.
It hasn’t been regulated to death, yet. Like a union, in North Iowa, hasn’t done it’s job till the company has to close.
It’s close to being regulated to death. You would not believe all the state regulations on daycares.
That’s the object, kill it. Then the Democrats propose a bill for government run daycare.
All the sheep, flock to it. Pretty soon you have what the liberals wanted. Control of the population from the cradle, to the grave.
They already start indoctrination as soon as the child enters school. It continues all the way through college.
Now you have a generation that is, well, look at our colleges. “The government should pay for”, or,”The government should give.” They need to grow up.
Their excuse is, we have so much college debt, what no one else has ever had it?
We shouldn’t have to pay for _________. It costs so much and we are starting out. All of us have.