From the meeting of the
Labor Committee - January 9, 2007
Sen. Prague:
Every time I hear about the business community
pushing legislation through this legislature, all I can think of is how they
pushed deregulation of the electric industry.
You know, it was going to save jobs.
It was going to save the economy of
SEN. PRAGUE:
. . . Mr.
President, I rise to support this bill. You know, all of us around this Circle
know that education is the key to better life, a better future, and a better
opportunity to contribute to society as a whole.
I remember the young woman in Norwich when
this issue first came to my attention several years ago, which was the
foundation of the Dream Act.
This young woman was brought to this country
by her mother and father when she was just a baby. She had no clue that her
mother and father and she were illegal immigrants.
She grew up in Norwich. She went to the
schools in Norwich. She graduated with top honors from NFA, and wanted to go to
Eastern Connecticut State University. She had worked during high school to save
money because her parents were making enough, you know, to keep their heads
above water, but didn't have enough to pay for her education.
She had worked, she had saved money, and she
had planned to go to Eastern. And when she found out that she was not an
American citizen, even though she had lived in this country, in this state
from, well for all of her life except the first few months when she was in
another country with her parents, she was devastated.
She didn't have the money to pay the
out-of-state tuition. And consequently, she couldn't go to school. She had to
delay going for another couple of years.
I think that for us to deny young people who
have spent many years of their lives in this state the opportunity to get an
education is really, in my opinion, not the right thing to do.
I hope that Members of this Circle realize
what kind of damage we'll be doing to these young people. It's my hope also
that the Dream Act will become law. To give young people an opportunity to
better themselves is also a good thing for us. As members of this society, we
benefit from those who can contribute and make life better.
So, Mr. President, I'm hoping that Members of
this Circle will seriously consider this issue. It's going to affect the lives
of an awful lot of young people.
They're not asking for scholarships. They're
not asking for financial aid. They're just asking to be able to pay their way
as in-state students and pay the in-state tuition. Thank you.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
. . .
Employees who work 40 hours a week will earn
one hour of paid sick time.
This bill is both for part-time employees and
for full-time employees. An employee can accumulate 52 hours of sick time,
which is 6-1/2 days a year.
As the situation currently stands, employees
who cannot afford to stay home because they are sick, because they need that
day's pay to pay their mortgage or feed their kids, have to go to work sick.
When they go to work sick, they infect other
employees. If they're working in a restaurant, it certainly is not the place to
have somebody who is sick sneezing on your food or coughing on your food.
Because these people do not have any kind of
paid sick time, they have to go to work because they need that day's pay.
The amendment also takes up to 120 days
before you can use whatever sick time you have accumulated. The underlying bill
has 90 days, but because we wanted to give the municipalities the opportunities
to have seasonal workers, the 120 days is now in place. So the seasonal workers
would be eliminated, virtually, because they wouldn't be able to start taking
their sick time until after the 120 days.
What the bill also does is document how the
employee has to take the sick time. If he knows beforehand that he is going to
the doctor or has some kind of medical appointment, he has to notify the
employer.
If he can't notify the employer, and he's
sick, and he's out for three days or more, he has to bring in documentation
that he's sick.
This bill provides protection for employers
and employees. It is a very important benefit for people who do not have any
sick time. As the New York Times says in its article, it is the humane
and decent thing to do.
Mr. President, I hope that every member of
the Circle will remember that if one of us is sick, we can stay home and
continue to get our pay, regardless of how many days we are home.
For people out there in the world of work,
this is a very, very important, necessary benefit. All of us, as human beings,
at some point in time, become ill, and we need to provide these employees with
the chance to stay home and get better.
Mr. President, I hope that every member of
the Circle will support this very important piece of legislation. Thank you.