In the 25 years since the Family and Medical Leave Act was signed into law, our country has seen a paradigm shift on paid leave. States from California to Rhode Island have adopted paid family and medical leave policies, as well as leading companies from Levi Strauss to Adobe. The federal government needs to catch up to the will of the American people—paid leave is fair, it is humane, and it is popular, and it is good for the economy.

We welcome Republicans to the table on paid leave. Their presence is long overdue. Working families are at the center of public discourse, after spending so many years pushed to the sidelines by the Republican majority. However, the Republican proposals for paid family leave are woefully inadequate to meet the needs of working families.

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It has been reported that Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioFlorida senators pushing to keep Daylight Savings Time during pandemic Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings MORE (R-Fla.) is working on legislation modeled after the Independent Women’s Forum’s recent proposal. That plan only includes parental leave which would leave behind more than three-quarters of workers who take family or medical leave for reasons other than the birth or adoption of a child. This vast majority of people use leave to care for themselves, or a sick family member. Family caregiving needs will only increase as the population and workforce ages and the millions of people caring for both their elderly family members and their own children increases.

In addition, Rubio’s developing bill would carve parental leave out of Social Security, breaking one promise to Americans to fund another. We are already asking families to make the impossible choice between their work and their families in the event of a birth of a child, or the care of a loved one. It is reckless and irresponsible to ask workers to roll the dice on their needs in retirement in order to cover family leave. Our Republican colleagues need to understand that some people do not have a choice as to when they retire—some need to retire early. For those workers, the Rubio plan would cut benefits.

Any legislation that reflects the Independent Women’s Forum plan to raid Social Security to pay for parental leave benefits would jeopardize workers’ future retirement security and would hurt women, low-wage workers and workers of color the most.

Moreover, women’s retirement security would take the biggest hit—as they would be the workers who disproportionally borrow against their own Social Security benefits. And Rubio’s plan would also penalize larger families—potentially forcing parents with more children to work longer before they can finally retire. And for low-income workers, whose life expectancies are already shorter than high-income workers, pushing retirement off further and further could deny families the hope of any retirement at all.

American workers deserve better than this proposal, and we have the solution: the FAMILY Act, which would provide 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave that is sustainable, affordable, and inclusive. It would include caregiving of all kinds, rather than just parental leave. And it would cost workers an average of just $1.50 a week—leaving future Social Security benefits alone.

The FAMILY Act, led by DeLauro in the House and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandSuburban moms are going to decide the 2020 election Jon Stewart urges Congress to help veterans exposed to burn pits The Hill's Campaign Report: 19 years since 9/11 | Dem rival to Marjorie Taylor Greene drops out | Collin Peterson faces fight of his career | Court delivers blow to ex-felon voting rights in Florida MORE (D-N.Y.) in the Senate, would address the greatest economic challenge of our time: that too many Americans who play by the rules are in jobs that do not pay them enough to live on. Losing weeks’ worth of wages in order to care for an ill loved one would push many families over the financial edge, some past the point of no return.

In a worker’s hour of greatest need, we need to be there for them, not ask them to bet their retirement. Family and medical leave can and should be a bipartisan issue—but we need to do it the right way. The FAMILY Act is the responsible solution.

DeLauro represents Connecticut's 3rd District and is ranking member on the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee.