Editor’s note: This story has been corrected.
Former Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, on her way out of the executive office she held while serving as unelected mayor for eight months in 2020-2021, enacted a parental leave policy for municipal employees.
Elected Mayor Dave Bronson undid that policy when he came into office in July of 2021. Now, the Assembly is planning to put the parental leave policy back, but as an ordinance of the assembly. It is nearly the exact format that was signed as an executive order by Quinn-Davidson.
The ordinance will be formally proposed at the Feb. 21 regular Assembly meeting. It is sponsored by Quinn-Davidson, Meg Zaletel, and Suzanne LaFrance.
Under the proposed ordinance, workers asking for parental leave could get up to 160 hours of paid leave after a child is born, adopted, or brought into the employee’s family through foster care. The fiscal impact of this is unknown for taxpayers, as the Assembly majority views it as a productivity loss.
“Parental leave is a productivity loss issue rather than a cost increase. A full-time employee is paid for 2,080 hours a year. In whatever manner those 2,080 hours are allocated the cost is the same. However, there may be some costs if overtime is anticipate to be used/requested to cover the productivity loss,” the Assembly analysis says.
This new benefit is in addition to normal vacation leave, sick leave, 12 existing paid holidays, and voting leave, as the Assembly prepares to add one more holiday to the work schedule of municipal employees: Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, while removing Seward’s Day.
The parental leave ordinance says that the Assembly may skip sending the proposal to the Personnel Rules Committee prior to a public hearing.
At the Feb. 21 meeting, the Assembly will introduce the ordinance and set a public hearing for another time. The Assembly meets at 5 pm in the Assembly Chambers of the Loussac Library, at the corner of 36th Ave. and Denali Street.
Pertinent documents for this ordinance include:
AO 2023-20_1_PAID PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFIT.DOCX
AO 2023-20_2_PAID PARENTAL LEAVE_AM 96-2023.DOCX
AO 2023-20_3_EXHIBIT A PARENTAL LEAVE SEE.XLSX
AO 2023-20_4_EXHIBIT B 2023-0206 PARENTAL LEAVE PRICEOUT.PDF
Here in this state, and in our nation; every encouragement, incentive, and blessing needs to be given to those residents that are seeking to start and/or grow a family. The necessity for policies that do this, grows more acute by the day.
I have consistently pointed out the unsustainability of the costly programs put into place by this assembly and this is one more step that disenfranchises we property owners that are being taxed out of our homes by these idiots. I am making a plan to get out because I can see what a terrible place Anchorage is becoming and see no change possible on the horizon that would induce me to remain. It is unfortunate that the criminality that has occurred with regard to federal dollars that were shoved into a select few pockets has not been addressed. It is proof that those that should be defending the taxpayer are complicit in the acts.
Good to know. You’re paying for this, Anchorage homeowners.
160 hours parental leave/8hr work day = 20 work days off. Person works 5 days a week = 4 weeks or one month off. I am having a hard time reconciling the math to stretch it out to five months off. Even the text of assembly memorandum 96-2023 states it is 4 weeks of continuous family leave being made available to city employees. Screws the non-family oriented couples out of free leave, but them’s the breaks.
Thanks, LH, I corrected the math on that story. – sd
Well, for non-family oriented couples, we could make the leave available if they talk about having a family, adopt a rescue animal or purchase a geranium.
And, how much will it cost the taxpayers to make up for the “productivity” loss?
.
Seriously, do these children, errr…. I mean leftists think we are stupid or something? Do they think we will be “Oh, OK, it is a small loss of productivity. Not a problem.”
Are muni employees fully productive at this point? Will reducing productivity from an group of employees that are not exactly the most stellar performers make the City a better place to live?
.
Is there anything a leftist will not spend other people’s money on?
Part time employment?
Why not? After all, it is nobody’s money – so there is no one available to care.
Another ploy by the left to buy votes, just like Brandon’s student loan forgiveness program, all the “free” handouts in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act and all the favorable union terms that get them votes. They’re not representing the taxpayer!
That’s discrimination what about everybody else. The government can’t discriminate against anybody by law. Why do public employees get more pay medical vacation and now time off that the private sector. Sounds like discrimination to me.
Paid parental leave discriminated against people who chose to have dogs or ski or do whatever else they want. Unless you’re going to give everyone freebies (which I’m totally against) then why to do parents get this? Christ I already pay for their kids school through the extortion that is property taxes. Enough!
Agreed!
Kenai Peninsula Borough is next.
Free money (oh wait, days off for family) to all government workers all the time. Why do you think they’re there?
There are 160 hours of leave that Felix Rivera, Chris Constant, and Austin Davis will never be needing to claim.
I’m so thankful and fortunate that I got out of that cesspool when I did. One of the best feelings in the world is knowing that I don’t pay property taxes to these crooks any longer.
Life is harder (and increasingly expensive) when mommy works outside home. one thing doing it being a single parent. Another when daddy is around and his income makes him an excellent provider and mommy
still works. In olden days parental leave not needed, they lived under one income and not greedy to afford an expensive lifestyle needing two breadwinners
.
Inflation is such, that often, it takes two incomes to live a bleak lifestyle. It’s not about being greedy. It’s about necessity. Most people lived within their means unlike today. My dad worked in office job during the day and pumped gasoline at night. My mom worked nights in the hospital. Even then I always felt like we were poor.
MRAK must have missed the reporting on need to increase either pay, or benefits to retain workers. Bronson is racing our local government to the bottom.
LOL How in the world did my wife and I raise two extremely successful children without access to any of this crap?
Don’t you love how easily the elected leisure class can expend other folks money.
But the have cute little flags by their name.
idiots
Soeaking of those flags, wtf!
There should ONLY be the Alaska or America flag, fly that freak flag in YOUR home, not our citys home.
Well said!
Perhaps all phones should be yanked out and returned to the telephone companies since most employees and elected politicians no longer speak to the public ever. Since that is the new normal let us honor that and realize a savings by removing most now unnecessary employee phone jacks and phones and from the elected refuswnik – “representatives”. Compute the savings. How much is that line item costing each residence?
Mayor Bronson, can you have these fools arrested and removed from the assembly for this treasonous and illegal behaviour? After all, they have to follow the personnell rules like all the rest of the muni employees. This is actual malice aforethought, intentional destruction of city property as well as outright LYING in official capacity.
Tucked away in this story is the bit about removing Seward’s Day from the list of Holiday’s. I’m stunned that the Assembly would be considering such an action.
William Seward was opposed to slavery and throughout his career as a politician worked to free former slaves.
Seward negotiated the purchase of Russian America mostly in order to insure that the Territory would not become a British Domain, Seward detested the British Empire and was once admonished by President Lincoln to cool his heels in starting a war with England until he, Lincoln had vanquished Robert E Lee who was a Democrat.
I suppose the real angst that the Democrat controlled Assembly holds against William Seward is that Seward was a Republican. The Anchorage Assembly today being comprised of Democrats, the party of Slavery would naturally oppose Seward, a Republican.
We should al be thankful for William Seward, without his efforts we would be buying gasoline by the litre and getting gooey brown gravy served with our French Fires at our local diner.
There’s really no loss to anyone. In fact, if more of them took more time off, it would save us taxpayers a fortune. Take a few years, better yet. The government is way too fat. Maybe they could task these people with answering the phone as long as they are being paid, when not busy nursing a new generation on the government feed.
Comments are closed.