We have a slogan in Maine: “The Way Life Should Be.” Let’s make it so.

Those of us who have the privilege to live and work in the great state of Maine will soon be considering another way to make life a little more like the way it should be. As a former small business owner, I am supporting an important piece of legislation coming before our Maine state legislators: a proposal for paid family and medical leave. My experience as a licensed clinical social worker – a contracted employee and subsequently a small business owner – proves to me the need for this important legislation.

I connect with workers who are contracted employees and to employers who need contracted employees. I identify with workers who must rely on spouses for health insurance and benefits as well as employers who struggle to offer desirable benefit packages. I empathize with workers who forfeit days and weeks of wages because a loved one needs care, as well as with employers who struggle to maintain productivity when an employee takes unpaid time off out of necessity. I sympathize with workers who must delay medical treatment for themselves, knowing bills may not be paid if they take unpaid time off. I sympathize with employers who need healthy, committed employees.

Please contact our state legislators, encouraging them to vote “Yes” on paid family and medical leave for a stronger, healthier workforce. It’s “the way life should be.”

Elizabeth Wilson
Lisbon