Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is this weekend. And when it comes to Mother's Day, we here at the Working Families Party say it's better to give than to receive. We hope the legislators at the state capitol in Albany agree.

We're giving them a Mother's Day card with a message: It's time to give paid time off to parents of newborns (or newly adopted children) and adults who need time to care for ailing relatives.

A teacher's aide in Queens should not have to face the choice of spending time with her newborn daughter or putting food on the table. A truck driver in Buffalo should not have to risk his family's economic security to take care of his father after a stroke.

Not in New York. Not anywhere.

But working families in New York face these choices every day. That's because the U.S. is one of only five countries in the world without a national policy allowing working families to take paid time off to care for newborn children and seriously ill relatives.

That's wrong, and we're going to do something about it.

We're working to expand an existing social insurance program - temporary disability insurance - to include family leave insurance. Family leave insurance would let parents of newborns (or newly adopted children) and adults who need time to care for ailing relatives take 12 weeks of paid time off. Working New Yorkers would be able to receive a portion of their wages to maintain their family's economic security and care for their family.

That's the message behind our Mother's Day card to legislators. We're asking everyone to sign the Mother's Day card, and we'll deliver it - and any message you want to send along with it - as we lobby in Albany.

Sign our Mother's Day card and send the message that you support family leave insurance.

And have a Happy Mother's Day!