Modulator

Legislator Speak

It is well known that legislators generally can only be trusted when they promise to take your money. They are not bashful about speaking disengenously, providing misleading information, and, for that matter, outright lying about the impacts of proposed legislation. They'll regularly contradict themselves in the course of the same conversation.

For instance, the Illinois senate just passed a bill that says:

Working parents would be entitled to 24 hours of unpaid work leave during a school year to attend their children's school conferences or classroom activities,

One of the sponsors, Senator Iris Martinez, touts the bill:

"I personally feel that when you have employees, and you are sensitive to their parental needs, you have a happy employee," Martinez said. "It shows the employer cares about family. Then you have families involved in education."

But Martinez said the legislation provides safeguards so employees don't abuse the privilege. She said employees would have to give advance notice of their absence and would be required to provide employers with certification from an educator upon their return.

And then the lie:

"We're making sure the employer doesn't lose any productivity," she said. "There are a lot of safety nets put into place."

Uhh, let's see: employee gets unpaid time off, there is paper work to process, but there is no productivity lost? She is probably saying this BS with a straight face.

Perhaps the Illinois house will have better sense.

Remember, when stuff like this becomes law we all pay for it through higher prices, reduced wages, and lost jobs.

Posted by Steve on March 3, 2005