In 1993 lawmakers on both sides of the aisle came together to enact the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). 22 years ago today the FMLA was implemented and began providing workers with the ability to take time off to care for themselves, or a sick or injured loved one, without fear of losing their job.
The FMLA was the first legislation of its kind and it was the first step in creating a fair and family friendly workplace environment. Since the law was implemented on August 5^th, 1993 FMLA benefits have been used over 200 million times, according to a study conducted by the National Partnership for Women and Families.
While the policy has been a huge success, it only works for people who can afford it. Too many workers are unable to take advantage of their benefits due to the loss of income they would face while on leave. In fact, a Department of Labor study cited “financial impossibility” as the number one reason given when people were asked why they didn’t take leave that they were eligible for.
That is why Congress should pass the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMILY) Act to support families when they need it most.  Small contributions from the employee and the employer would ensure that the employee will receive a portion of their salary during their period of leave. Similar insurance programs are in place in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island and they serve as a testament to the success of the policy.
In today’s economy households depend on multiple earners, and small businesses depend on families that can afford to shop for their goods and services. Providing an insurance policy that allows workers to continue receiving a paycheck while they; take time off to welcome a new member of the family, recover from an illness, or provide care for a sick or injured loved one is the right move for families, businesses, and our economy.
The FMLA serves as a model for what Congress can get done when they work across the aisle and lend bi-partisan support to legislation. Congress should reach across the aisle again and pass the FAMILY Act, ensuring that all workers who are eligible for protected periods of leave can afford to take it.

Forty years ago Main Street Alliance of Florida member Charles McKinney made a mistake. A mistake he was reminded of every time he had to answer 'yes' on the criminal conviction question on job applications.
Now the owner of Trinity Laundry in Eatonville, Charles supports local efforts to remove the criminal conviction question from applications. He is calling on the President to take executive action on fair-chance hiring; expanding employment opportunities with federal agencies and contractors.
Breaking down barriers to employment with the federal government, the nation's largest employer, will reduce unemployment and increase consumer spending. The President has the opportunity to create a culture of fair-chance hiring that would support businesses, like Charles's, that are trying to do the right thing for their community.
Read Charles's full story featured in the Huffington Post.
 

Portland, OR - Today, Wednesday July 22, 2015, Main Street Executive Team member, Deborah Field co-owner of Paperjam Press in Portland, Oregon, stood in front of one of the largest fast food giants in the world to help kick off the Raise The Wage campaign in Oregon.
Being a small business owner for 25 years has taught Deborah to value her employees and paying them a livable wage is the best thing she can do to support that effort. Deborah noted a 60% increase in sales resulting from increased productivity in her shop after implementing a $15.00/hr starting wage for her employees. Main Street Alliance members know that Raising The Wage helps small business and puts more money back into our communities.

Stay focused on the goal, which is to make sure every American has access to high quality health care. That was National Executive Committee Member Kelly Conklin’s message to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) during the “Small Business Health Care Challenges and Opportunities” roundtable. Conklin, Owner and CEO at Foley Waite Associates in Bloomfield, New Jersey is a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act and he provided testimony on how the healthcare law currently works for business owners like him and how it should be developed to ensure it works for all small business owners.
At the Main Street Alliance we believe the Affordable Care Act is an important and crucial step forward for millions of Americans in gaining access to affordable healthcare coverage, but we know it can be improved upon. Kelly provided the perspective of a small business owner in New Jersey who purchases health insurance in a small group market. He laid out examples of what has worked and what hasn’t worked, and shared his policy recommendations with the committee.
His recommendations included; expanding tax credits available to small business owners, incorporating regional costs of living when determining subsidies, technological improvements in the SHOP exchange market place, and expanding Medicaid. He insisted that these changes are made while maintaining the robust consumer protections and oversight written into the law.
“Until every American has a card in their purse or wallet that guarantees access to a doctor- any doctor, anywhere, until emergency rooms only serve emergency patients and not emergency patients and the uninsured, I and my employees will pay too much for too little,” said Conklin
To see the full video of the Senate Committee Hearing visit: http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/small-business-health-care-challenges-and-opportunities

Today, small business owners across the country are calling on their House Representatives to Vote NO on Fast Track. In Oregon, Main Street business owners recently met with Congresswoman Bonamici's office in Beaverton and delivered a clear message: “Say NO to Fast Tracking the TPP!”
Many gathered in front of City Hall, yet Congresswoman Bonamici did not go downstairs to meet with the group. Business owners and community members rallied for about 30 minutes and headed up to her office. Representative from the rally politely entered City Hall, and went to deliver their message to her staff because the Congresswoman would not meet with them face-to-face.
Patty Katz, an Organizer with The Main Street Alliance of Oregon, delivered a copy of an Op-Ed from Mark Kellenbeck, Co-Chair of The Main Street Alliance of Oregon and Co-owner of BrainJoy, LLC in Medford. The Congresswoman was asked what happen to change her mind about standing up for small business and Oregonians as a whole.
The group asked, “What is in it for Oregonians? Why does Congresswoman Bonamici support the TPP?” 
Congresswoman Bonamici’s staff were cordial to the group, and over 25 delivered different letters and other documents all with the same requests: “Say NO to Fast Tracking the TPP!”

Kevin Litwin, CEO of Joe's Auto Parks testifying in support of raising the minimum wage
Today the Los Angeles City Council heard testimony on raising the minimum wage in the city to as high as $15.25 an hour and The Main Street Alliance of California’s own Kevin Litwin provided comment in support of raising the wage. Watch his testimony here: https://youtu.be/C2kEs8D3ZIY
“I am the Chief Operating Office at Joe’s Parking, and a member of the Main Street Alliance. Together we are support raising the L.A. minimum wage to $15.25. When Joe’s Auto Parks was founded in 1959 minimum wage was just $1 an hour. We didn’t pay the minimum then, and we don’t pay the minimum now. For over 50 years we have been committed to offering fair wages and attracting the best and brightest employees to manage our locations. That is how we grew to one of the largest operations here in downtown L.A. We strongly hope you pass this and raise the wage to $15.25” said Litwin.
The Council chambers were packed with over 100 residents of the city, most of whom supported the minimum wage increase, and dozens of workers and community leaders provided comment echoing Kevin's support.
After hearing the support and concerns of those in attendance the Council turned in a 14-1 vote in favor of raising the city’s wage to $15 gradually over the next 5 years. The legislation will move on to a full Council vote next week before being written into law. The first wage bump will occur in July of 2016 when wages will rise to $10.60 an hour on their way to $15 by 2020.

Tuesday, March 31 - The Main Street Alliance of Oregon released a new report today, highlighting support of Paid Sick Days for Oregon from the small business community. Understanding Paid Sick Time in Oregon; A Guide for Businesses examines the small business considerations of a paid sick time policy in Oregon. It combines data and analysis from a review of existing research on the costs and benefits of a paid sick time policy with insights from local small business owners.

 
Read the report here: Paid Sick Time in Oregon, March 2015

Business owners working with The Main Street Alliance of Washington came together in Olympia on Monday, 3/30 to call on the Washington Legislature to "do their jobs" and support economy-boosting legislation in Washington. Small business owners from across the state called for an increase in the minimum wage, citing "customers" as their biggest concern and laying out the basic economic argument that when their customers have more money in their pockets, they can spend more in local businesses.
Here are some media stories from the hearings:
http://www.kirotv.com/ap/ap/washington/senate-to-consider-bill-raising-washingtons-minimu/nkhjJ/
http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/fb2c68b17fc44356b6364aa68d9edc8c/WA--Minimum-Wage
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/senate-to-consider-bill-raising-washingtons-minimum-wage/
http://www.theolympian.com/2015/03/30/3653633/senate-to-consider-bill-raising.html
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/State-12-minimum-wage-bill-uncertain-in-senate-298077651.html
http://mynorthwest.com/11/2739188/Private-business-owner-Big-businesses-are-taking-advantage-of-employees
http://www.columbian.com/news/2015/mar/30/minimum-wage-vancouver-olympia-senate/
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2015/03/30/business-lobbies-line-up-against-12-minimum-wage-will-they-yield/ 
http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/spincontrol/2015/mar/30/waleg-day-78-12-minimum-wage-debate-continues/  
Senate Commerce & Labor Committee held on Monday March 30th 2015, 1:30PM Public: HB 1355, HB 1356, ESHB 1646; Executive: 1211, 1443, 1763; Work Session: Minimum wage.
Molly Moon: Please click here to watch video or paste this url into your browser address bar: http://tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwplayer&eventID=2015030234#start=1970&stop=2070
Tiffany Turner: Please click here to watch video or paste this url into your browser address bar:http://tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwplayer&eventID=2015030234#start=3669&stop=3750
Don Orange: Please click here to watch video or paste this url into your browser address bar: http://www.tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwplayer&eventID=2015030234#start=4145&stop=4245

OpEd by Paul Heroux, originally published by The Guardian on March 31, 2015
I have a lot of titles in my life. I am a husband, father, college graduate, former corporate and small business employee, and retired small business owner. The list is long, and I am proud of it. In Florida, I am also called a “felon.” The title has stayed with me in the years since I served my sentence, and won’t go away.
I am not alone. There are 70 million adults with arrest or conviction records in the United States - or about one in three adults, according the National Employment Law Project. And men with criminal records account for about 34% of all nonworking men of prime working age. That’s a serious problem for our national economy and my local community in central Florida. Though every stratum of society is affected, communities of color are particularly hard hit. People of color are more likely to be arrested and to receive harsher punishments compared to their white counterparts. With little choice, the accused often take a plea deal, unaware of the life-long consequences of having a conviction.
When I tried to re-enter the workplace at the end of my sentence, I spoke with managers who would gladly have hired me. But the job application had “the box” asking “have you ever been convicted?” The managers couldn’t do much about it. I was rejected each time I responded with “yes.” I started my own business largely as a way to get around that barrier.
My business was primarily a painting and handyman service. Most of my customers were homeowners or small business owners themselves. I was very frank with all of them about my felony record. But my reputation for quality work, honesty, and my ability to connect with people helped me to overcome the stigma of having been incarcerated.
I’m grateful that I had the ability to set-up my own company, but that’s not possible for everyone with a record. I was fortunate enough to have the necessary skills to provide a service and I had access to the capital necessary to get my business started.
I joined Main Street Alliance of Florida, a network of local small business owners, to help change that. Along with nearly 200 civil and workers’ rights groups around the nation, we are calling on President Obama to take executive action to ensure that qualified job-seekers with past arrests or convictions are not automatically shut out of employment opportunities with federal agencies and federal contractors.
Although there are currently federal hiring requirements aligned with fair hiring principles, in practice federal agencies have broad discretion to adopt their own hiring policies, often with limited transparency. Executive action would ensure that the federal government fully embraces fair chance hiring in both policy and practice.
We are fighting to remove “the box” from job applications. Not only is it unfair to qualified job-seekers who have made amends for their past mistakes, but the box does a tremendous disservice to employers as well. By blindly screening out a significant portion of the applicant pool, employers may be missing out on some of the best and brightest candidates - people who may turn out to be among the most grateful and hard-working employees.
“Ban the box” and other “fair chance” hiring policies have been adopted with bipartisan support in 14 states, Washington DC, and 100 cities and counties so far. Georgia just became the latest state to ban the box. Republican Governor Nathan Deal signed an executive order on 23 February doing so because the policy will, in his words: “improve public safety, enhance workforce development, and provide increased state employment opportunities”.
These policies are gaining momentum around the country because people are realizing how persistent joblessness translates into economic losses with far-reaching consequences. In 2008, the reduced job prospects of people with felony convictions cost the US economy between $57 and $65 bn in lost output. At the individual level, serving time reduces annual earnings for men by 40%, meaning families too often fall into a poverty trap.
With the labor market gaining strength every month, the Obama administration should waste no time in ensuring that job applicants with past convictions can fairly compete for jobs and help contribute to a stronger economy. The federal initiative will translate into real opportunities, as nearly one in four US workers is employed either by a federal contractor, a subcontractor, or the federal government.
Expanding job opportunities for workers with prior records is fair for our society and smart for our economy. Making sure the path to employment is not blocked for people with records will restore dignity and hope to our communities. I should know. It made all the difference in the world to me.

The Main Street Alliance of Florida took part in the Volusia County Action Assembly Monday evening at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach. The event was organized by Daytona Beach based group Fighting Against Injustice Toward Harmony (FAITH), an interfaith community organization that works to identify and address the root causes of social and economic injustices.
The auditorium was packed with over 1500 residents of Volusia and neighboring counties to discuss three key issues the group plans to work on in 2015. County and City level law enforcement were in attendance to hear a plan to increase use of civil citations in response to non-violent crimes to spare first time offenders the lifelong burden of a criminal conviction, a plea was made to Volusia County officials to secure funding for a homeless shelter, and Daytona Beach City Commissioners were urged to vote in favor of ‘Ban the box’ legislation.
Alliance leader Paul Heroux was asked to give testimony before members of the City Commission and guests in attendance to share his position on ‘ban the box’ as a small business owner who was previously incarcerated. Paul gave a passionate speech, telling the audience that he started his own business because he was the only one who wouldn’t judge him based on how he answered the question on his applications.
Paul explained, “Checking that box takes away your identity. You are unable to explain who you are, and what you can bring to the company before you are deemed unfit for the position. Everyone has an idea in their head of who a felon is or what they look like, and it probably doesn’t look like me. Ban the box is a chance for my face to replace the movie gangster the hiring manager pictured when they saw I checked yes.”
All 4 of the Commissioners in attendance agreed to meet with members of the ‘ban the box’ coalition in the next 30 days to discuss the legislation before it is brought to a vote next month.  Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry took is a step further and said, “I whole heartedly believe that banning the box is good for our city and I will vote yes on the measure.”
Main Street leaders will remain engaged in the debate throughout the process and will continue to set an example for private employers who have not yet adopted fair hiring practices. In addition to the work being done in Daytona Beach legislation is being prepared for the Orlando City Commission, and Main Street Florida is among the first organizations to join the fight for fair hiring in Orlando.