Paid family leave is a bipartisan issue. Florida’s Sen. Rubio should take the lead | Opinion

Floridians are resilient, and there is no better proof than what these last 15 months have shown as we navigated through a global pandemic.

I could not help but reflect on the incredible efforts of Florida women as the COVID-19 pandemic raged through our communities. Despite restrictions, closures and layoffs, families across the state still had to care for sick family members and other loved ones, often while assuming additional caregiving responsibilities.

In fact, Florida seniors and their families will face increased family and medical-care needs, with the share of the state’s population age 65 and older expected to grow by more than one-eighth by 2040, and with one in four workers now 55 years old and older. This only heightens the need for support in receiving and providing critical care for themselves and loved ones.

Last year showed us that our fragile personal and professional landscapes can be affected by unforeseen events in an instant. It was a lesson that deepened my appreciation for the benefits of strong family support systems; an appreciation I developed over years of growing up and watching my parents interact with and address the needs of employees in their businesses.

Unfortunately, more than 63 percent of working Floridians are unable to access even the unpaid leave available to them under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), so it’s not surprising that six times as many women were unemployed in December 2020 than had been only a year earlier. With women making up almost half of Florida workers and more than one-fourth of its business owners, such trends could result in significant economic consequences that impact every Floridian.

President Biden’s proposed American Families Plan (AFP) includes paid-leave provisions that, if enacted, will provide at least 12 weeks of paid leave under an expanded FMLA. This is good and necessary federal leadership that addresses the fact that eight in 10 American workers still do not have access to any such programming through their employers. In places like Florida that have no laws mandating paid leave, the pandemic has only highlighted the need.

This is a clear, bipartisan issue. The fact that it’s coming from the Democratic Party does not alter or detract from my support though I am a lifelong Republican. That should be the case for anyone who truly values the need for policies that ensure stability for every American’s health and economic well-being. Indeed, former President Trump and his daughter Ivanka espoused the importance of caring for newborns, ailing loved ones and mental health, even going as far as making paid leave significant parts of the Trump administration’s policy portfolio.

And they were not alone. Ivanka Trump partnered with Sen. Marco Rubio in 2018 to help marshal additional right-leaning supporters for his paid family leave legislation, the Economic Security for New Parents Act. While the bill did not pass, the time is still ripe for positive change.

As the senior senator from the third-largest state in the only industrialized nation on Earth without paid parental and medical leave, Sen. Rubio should make the successful passage of the AFP a top priority. His leadership will help Americans across the political spectrum embrace this critical issue as our nation progresses into the 21st century.

It is time for both parties to cross the aisle and make paid family medical leave a reality for every American family, including the millions in Florida represented by Sen. Rubio.

Holly Raschein is a former state representative from House District 120 in Monroe County and South Miami-Dade County. She is former state director of the National Foundation for Women Legislators.