Model Employer

I'm at the markup of the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, and it's been interesting to watch as both Democrats and Republicans on the committee make the argument that the federal government should be a model employer.

Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the long-term sponsor of the bill, is using that argument from a liberal perspective, saying that if the federal government moves, other employers will follow: ". This bill would only affect the 1.8 million federal employees, but it is often the federal government that leads the country. It is a model project for the country...As a country that constantly talks about family values, it’s a way of putting the reality into the rhetoric. The federal government is the largest employer in our nation, but it lags behind the private sector on this vital work-life issue."

And Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) is making the case from a conservative, federalist perspective: "There are thousands of state and local governments that could be doing this…I see this as setting an example. These are our employees…One of the things the federal government ought to do more is lead through example, rather than dictate. As the largest employer, we can set an example so millions of businesses out there will follow our example, take a look at the bottom line, and see they can have their employees working with their families, not just with their businesses. I much prefer to lead by example and this bill follows that edict."

But they're all on the same page. Bilbray's alone among Republicans in making that argument, but it's the first time I've heard a Republican make the case for the federal government as model employer. It makes a lot of sense, from a traditionally conservative and federalist perspective.