Over the Labor Day weekend, Pennsylvanians took part of the great tradition of celebrating the American worker. Elected leaders from both sides of the aisle marched alongside labor unions in parades and plastered social media with posts about workers being the backbone of our Commonwealth’s economy.

Then on Tuesday, after grills cooled and fireworks ended, Pennsylvania’s working families returned to the long-standing dilemma of having to choose between their families hard-earned financial stability or caring for a family member during a critical time of need. This bleak reality – for families from Erie to Philadelphia – is because of the lack of guaranteed access to paid family and medical leave.

As working families right across our state lines in New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland have access to paid leave, but here at home, workers in nearly every sector still have to prioritize paying their bills above their health and well-being of themselves or their families.

There is a bipartisan solution if lawmakers in Harrisburg truly value PA’s workers like they said over the Labor Day weekend. Passing The Family Care Act this fall would establish a critical pro-family, pro-worker statewide paid family and medical leave program in Pennsylvania. There’s no excuse not to. The Democratic-led House passed their version out of committee in last June and the Republican-led Senate passed their own version out of committee this June, so meaningful legislation is primed for full votes in both chambers. Leadership must run the bills.

For the first time in our Commonwealth, working Pennsylvanians would have the freedom to be there for their newborn following birth, care for their child during an illness, provide critical care for elderly loved ones, or care for themselves following a major surgery or during cancer treatments, without having to sacrifice their household’s financial stability.

Currently, two-thirds, about 4.3 million, of Pennsylvania’s workers don’t have access to paid family and medical leave. In thirteen states and the District of Columbia, access to paid family and medical leave has proven to be good for working families and the economic competitiveness of those states.

Impossible choices between work and family often causes workers, especially women, to leave their jobs. As women make up half of the workforce, paid leave programs have proven to directly impact labor participation, long-term wages, and retirement benefits. If Pennsylvania women participated in the labor force at the same rate as women in countries with paid leave, there would be an estimated 107,000 additional workers in the state and $3.7 billion more wages earned statewide, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families. At a time when businesses across the Commonwealth are struggling to recruit and retain employees, access to paid leave would be a critical tool in helping to solve current and future workforce challenges.

One thing is true. Working families are the backbone of Pennsylvania’s economy and communities across the Commonwealth. It’s time for Harrisburg to really show up for them. It’s time to pass the Family Care Act. It’s time for Harrisburg to really show up for them. Click here to send a message to your legislators that it’s time to pass the Family Care Act.