Take action by urging your California assembly member to pass AB 518, Paid Family Leave for Chosen Family, which was referred to the committee on insurance on February 17, 2023.
Click here to find your California Representative and Senator!
Sample call / email script:
Hello. My name is [YOUR NAME], and I am calling to urge Assembly Member [NAME] to support AB 518, paid family leave for chosen family, which was referred to the committee on insurance on February 17, 2023. As a member of the Jewish Center for Justice community, we know it is our moral obligation to ensure that California leave laws become more accessible to LGBTQ+ Californians who care for their extended or “chosen” family that do not fit into the definition of “family” under the current paid family leave program. AB 518 makes the Paid Family Leave program, which most Californians already pay into, more equitably accessible to all Californians.
The Jewish Center for Justice is helping to mobilize the Jewish community and other communities of faith in an effort to codify the right to paid family leave for chosen family into law in California. Currently, most California workers pay into the Paid Family Leave program through automatic paycheck deductions, but those with chosen family cannot currently access the program when they need time away from work to care for those loved ones. AB 518 would:
- Increase equitable access to the state’s worker-funded PFL program
- Expand access to Paid Family Leave wage replacement benefits to individuals caring for their chosen family
As a Jewish community, we respect and understand the need to care for both the family we are born with and the family we’ve chosen. Restricting access to Paid Family Leave wage replacement creates unnecessary suffering and heartache for LGBTQ+ Californians.
Take ACTION by contacting your state Assembly Member to urge them to support this important piece of legislation.
Background Info:
Action alert compiled by the Micah D. Bycel Fellows.