Advocate for Emergency Paid Sick Days: Senate Budget Hearing Today

Advocate for Emergency Paid Sick Days

We’ve just gotten word that there is a Senate Budget Committee Hearing today, Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 1:30pm PST.

This is a critical opportunity to call in and give public comment in support of emergency paid sick days.

Note: hearings can be long, so you probably didn’t miss your chance to call in. Contact our political organizing director to be notified when public comment starts. Or, you can call the number below and listen in.

Hearing Call-in Information

Participant Number: 844-291-6364 

Access Code: 8768941

Dial "10" and an operator will come on and give you a number. Listen carefully for your number and when your number is called, unmute yourself and you will have 1 minute to make your comment.

What to Expect

If you call when the budget hearing starts you will likely have to wait for a while. If you prefer for Katie, our political organizing director, to email or text you when public comment starts she can do that! Get in touch with Katie at katie@workfamilyca.org.

Your own voice is most impactful, so don't be afraid to use your own words, but if the below scripts are helpful to you feel free to use them when you make your comment.

Call Script/Personal Experience (limit to 1 minute)

My name is __________, I am with (organization if applicable). Federal Emergency Paid Sick Days expired on January 1st, leaving millions of California workers without emergency paid sick days. Now that the Stay at Home Orders have been lifted, workers need emergency paid sick days in order to follow their physicians advice to isolate or quarantine without risking their job or pay. We need you to enact emergency paid sick days now.

Talking Points

If you have personally been denied paid sick days when you needed them or work with people who have been denied paid sick days, please share that experience if you are comfortable doing so. Lawmakers need to understand the human consequences of a lack of paid sick days and your story can help them understand this.

We know that when workers have paid sick days and can stay home when sick or infectious, infection rates go down. Paid sick days save lives and are essential to stopping the spread of COVID-19.

Watch the Hearing Live

To watch the hearing, you can go to this link. Please note that there is a delay with the livestream, so if you’re going to give public comment, please use the call-in number.

Join Our Team of Advocates!

Go to https://www.workfamilyca.org/advocacy to join our team of advocates and be notified when actions like this come up again! We’re fighting for a national paid leave program and several other policies that support parents and caregivers in the workplace.