Vincent Orange: DC’s Universal Paid Leave system should treat all DC residents equally

Yael Smiley and Kimberly Perry wrote a May 21 op-ed in The DC Line titled “Family, medical and caregiving leave are essential for all of us.” Yet they lobbied for, supported and now applaud the scheduled July 1 implementation of the District’s Universal Paid Leave (“UPL”) benefits program — even though it does not really include everyone. Let’s not forget that, according to the DC Policy Center, the District’s UPL excludes from eligibility 94,000 DC resident taxpayers while providing eligibility to 322,000 non-residents (primarily residents of Maryland and Virginia) — all at a cost of $160 million in taxes on the DC business community. (Federal and DC government workers aren’t eligible either but are covered by other programs.)

I ask the authors: Is it fair that my 36-year-old son — who lives here, pays taxes here and has a 3-year-old daughter here — is one of those 94,000 DC residents excluded from eligibility for DC UPL benefits because he works outside the city? Since his job is in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the University of Virginia Health System, this young man is excluded from receiving DC’s paid leave benefits of eight weeks to bond with a newborn child, six weeks to care for an ill family member, or two weeks for a personal serious health problem. Yet on the flip side, my son’s co-worker at UVa Health System resides in Virginia and pays Virginia taxes — but has a spouse who works in DC while returning to Virginia every night. The spouse, a Virginia resident, is eligible to receive a check from the DC government for paid leave benefits while Virginia does not provide UPL benefits to my son. I pray every day that he does not contract COVID-19.

My wife of 37 years retired from the DC Public Schools. We pay thousands of dollars in taxes to the District. Yet because she now teaches in Maryland, if I were to become seriously ill (due to COVID-19 or any other serious ailment), she would not be eligible for DC UPL benefits to provide care to me for up to six weeks — nor is she eligible for two weeks of UPL benefits to address a personal serious health issue of her own. And Maryland, which has a UPL benefits program, excludes her from eligibility because she lives in DC.

One would think Smiley, Perry and DC’s legislators would have at a minimum lobbied for, supported and applauded reciprocity in UPL benefits throughout the DMV. Yet, reciprocity was not addressed prior to the legislation’s passage.

The authors go on to state: “But incredibly, the Washington Business Journal reported last month that the DC Chamber of Commerce . . . [is] pushing the city to delay the [UPL] program, stop collecting the taxes that fund it, and maybe even spend the money that’s already been collected on something else. They claim we can’t afford paid leave. But the truth is that they’re trying to use this crisis to cut a popular program that everyone needs.”

They are right in saying everyone needs UPL. However, they are wrong in articulating the DC Chamber’s point of view. The Washington Business Journal reported the following: “Erika Wadlington, the D.C. Chamber’s director of public policy and programs, suggested during a town hall convened by Bowser’s team last week that the District could simply suspend the collection of payroll taxes for the program if the fund has already hit the $250 million target.” According to the DC government, it has collected $303 million for the $250 million DC UPL benefits program ($90 million for DC residents and $160 million for nonresidents, based on the current and projected makeup of covered employees). With the UPL fund balance at the necessary level, there is no need to tax employers at this time given they are struggling to make payroll and stay afloat during this COVID-19 crisis. 

I challenge Smiley and Perry to find and report accurately any declaration of the DC Chamber against paid leave benefits. What they will find is a call for structuring UPL so that it treats all residents and non-residents alike. This can be achieved through belated passage of the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2017, introduced by Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh, sanctioned as legally sufficient by DC Attorney General Karl Racine and supported by DC Appleseed. This important legislation would redistribute a portion of the funding burden to covered workers regardless of their residence.

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Vincent Bernard Orange Sr. is the outgoing president and CEO of the DC Chamber of Commerce. He recently filed with the DC Board of Elections to run as an independent for an at-large DC Council seat in November.