On Tuesday, November 12, legislators will debate Pennsylvania State Representative Seth Grove’s (R) bill that would block cities and local governments in PA from implementing paid sick days bills and other forms of paid leave (domestic violence and domestic partnership leaves, for example) that aren’t already guaranteed at the state level.
As paid sick days legislation moves forward in other states and cities throughout the nation, Pennsylvania’s Tea Party Republicans are busy pretending that they actually care about small government (last I checked, preempting municipal legislation on the state level is not exactly something out of the local control playbook.)
Grove’s bill and those like them have been fueled by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a coalition of big business interests and conservative legislators who handed out model legislation at a national meeting in 2011. And this is not the first time Rep. Grove has introduced model ALEC legislation.
If you’re outraged about this (and you should be) consider signing this petition. Better yet, give your state rep a call and tell him or her to oppose HB 1807, and focus on helping families and the economy instead of working to destroying both.
(See ThinkProgress’s piece on the bill for more info.)