House Minority Leader Scott Inman has introduced three measures to help promote family in Oklahoma. House Bills 2897, 2900, and 2895 are the vehicles for Inman’s proposals.
HB 2897 is called the Reasonable Accommodations for Pregnant Workers Act. It would require employers to reassign pregnant employees who reasonably believe that continuing in a current position “may cause injury to the employee or the fetus.”
To help balance the costs of child care, HB 2900 adjusts child care reimbursement rates to meet market minimum standards. It also changes the eligibility for use of the Child Care and Development Block Grant to provide child care assistance to families.
“Only 59 percent of the child care providers in Oklahoma accept families with assistance,” Inman said. “Largely because of the low reimbursement rate that centers receive.”
Reimbursement rates to child care centers in this state are the lowest in the nation, records show according to Inman.
HB 2895 is entitled the State Employee Maternity Leave Act and would provide paid leave to state workers who has a growing family. An employee would be given up to six weeks of paid leave to help bond with a natural child or an adopted child without using traditional compensated leave.
“Many state employees, especially those in the Department of Human Services, do the work of two or three employees whose positions have been cut through belt-tightening measures over the last five years. This legislation will send a message to these employees that not only do we support them and appreciate the sometimes tenuous work they do, but we also support their families and understand the significance of the prospect of taking unpaid maternity leave in today’s economic climate.”
