Wash U Experts: Obama child and sick leave directive more inclusive for low-income families — including men
President Barack Obama signed a memorandum Jan. 15
directing agencies to allow federal workers to take six weeks of paid
sick leave to help with a new child or a sick relative. The
president also asked Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, which
would grant Americans seven days a year of paid sick time. Augmenting
the Family and Medical Leave Act is one place Congress might
start if it wants to combat sex-role stereotypes and advance women’s
equal employment opportunity, as well as supporting families in times of
illness, say experts at Washington University in St. Louis.
Wash U Expert: Time to raise the gasoline tax?
Falling oil and gasoline prices have prompted some in Congress to debate about increasing the federal fuel tax, which helps fund highway and bridge construction, among other projects. Increasing
the tax, which hasn’t been raised since 1993 and isn’t tied to
inflation, to help offset revenue lost through lower prices at the pump
may seem like a good idea in theory, but it’s much more difficult in
practice, says tax law expert Adam Rosenzweig, JD, of Washington University in St. Louis.