Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Shares Personal Story, Signs Legislation Expanding New York State's Paid Family Leave

Governor Kathy Hochul today signed a bill (S.2928-A/A.06098-A) that expands New York State's Paid Family Leave legislation to allow caring for siblings. Under the current law, employees cannot take leave to care for a sibling with a serious health condition.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good afternoon, everyone, thank you for joining us and to the advocates, particularly Dina Bakst. I want to thank her for never giving up. I can't tell you how many times were at rallies, Albany, here, throughout the state, and you brought people together to make sure the voices of millions of New Yorkers were heard when it came to fighting for paid family leave first of all, in the State of New York, but now to make sure that we add these enhancements to make sure that no one is left behind. So, I want to thank you and all the advocates.

I'm also going to acknowledge the people who make this happen. There are ideas out there that come to their constituents, come from advocacy groups, but it really takes a Senator and an Assemblymember to get over the finish line in their houses. So I want to give a special, thanks to Senator Addabbo from Senate District 15, and Assemblymember Galef from Assembly District 95. You'll be hearing from them in a couple of minutes, but thank them.

Also, Cathy Nolan has been a tremendous champion, Assemblymember from District 37. She couldn't join us here today, but she's been a great champion for paid family overall and we wish her well.

So, paid family leave. This is personal.

It was thirty-three years ago when I had to make a tough decision myself, when I was expecting a child, had a baby, working as an attorney on Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's staff in Washington and thought for sure, it'd be an easy time and, you know, be able to get back to work when all is said and done and I needed paid leave.

My husband was a public servant. I was a public servant. We didn't have the money for extra help to come in and take care of us and we struggled. And at the time not having the leave, not having the ability to work from home, we put our personal finances aside and I ended up staying home and I understood then how this was a basic human right, to be able to take care of your newborn or your adopted child or your family members when they are desperately in need of someone to hold their hand.

I was able to be there holding my own mother's hand as she took her last breath a few years back just as she held my hand when I took my first breaths. That is what we call a basic human right here in the State of New York. And I wish that was universally held across this nation, that people would understand that a state like New York that is so steeped in our progressive values, who we fight for, who we stand up for and why we are the birthplace of so many basic rights.

I'm here to declare that taking care of your family is a human right. The right to be able to not lose your income, not have to make the horrible decision of am I able to take care of an elderly parent or a newborn baby or am I going to have to give up my income? No one should have to deal with that.

Paid family leave in our state has lifted up so many people, over 100,000 New Yorkers every single year. And that's extraordinary. And I remember people talking about this and how, oh my gosh, this is going to bring the economy to its knees, just like if we increased minimum wage, it's going to have such a dire impact on our economy.

These are what employers need to offer their employees because now employees are in a far better position. They can negotiate. They need to have these rights. And so many people have fallen by the wayside in this pandemic and I think that put a real spotlight, as Dina said, on the the trials and tribulations of so many people have been marginalized before, who do not have a support system.

And so to be able to introduce the idea of allowing siblings to help — think of these various scenarios. You're a single mom, you're pregnant, you have a job, take care of yourself, perhaps other children, and your parents aren't able to help you, but you have a sibling who is able to be there to help you when you get home from the hospital, help take care of your kids just for a short time, a few weeks, maybe a couple of months.

And right now in the State of New York, that person is not eligible for paid family leave to be able to help you, their closest relative will still be with them long after the parents are gone. I'm close to my siblings. I have six siblings, five siblings if you count me. My sister and I are like this. My sister lost her husband a few years ago and she's been raising teenagers. I have a unique job, but if it wasn't for this, I would want to be there if she got sick because who else is going to take care of my sister? Her kids certainly can't, our parents cannot.

And I want everyone to understand that this is not a policy idea that's out there that we can contemplate. It is something that's affecting people's lives every single day. And just — you think of older parents as well and older individuals. I also think of the people who don't have children. My Uncle Kevin, a gay man who lived by himself, who relied on his younger siblings to take care of him because he had no children. This is a very real problem for New Yorkers. And I'm so proud today that we have legislators who understand this basic right to take care of each other and sets New York State apart as we tell others around the country that you need to join us in our plans to make sure that people can take care of their families, not lose their jobs. Not lose their income and have their position waiting for them to come back.

Finally, Washington let's get it done. I love the fact that in New York we're progressive. We take care of people, but whether it's paid family leave, minimum wage or the right to have an abortion, we want to make sure that while the New Yorkers benefit from these, these progressive ideals here that I actually feel bad for the rest of the nation has not caught up with us. We lead a national policy on paid family leave, do not leave it up to the individual state legislatures to do the right thing. And we hope that they can find a resolution to this problem in Washington as we speak, something I've been waiting for since I was a young mom, many, many, many years ago.

So, that's what this is about New York. We're going to continue fighting for all New Yorkers. And I believe that by signing this today, it's going to give an opportunity for people to get that extra help they need, that support they need when their families can be there to step in and not lose their own income. So thank you very much and Senator Addabbo again I want to thank you for being a leader on this. You have your own daughters who may benefit from this someday, or they could be able to take care of you someday. I want my kids to be able to take care of me someday, too. So, that's how it's also personal.