Thursday, 2/20 evening update from VA – Prepare for a long month or so of advocating and lobbying

[Anonymous]

Thursday, 2/20 evening update from VA – Prepare for a long month or so of advocating and lobbying
S.804 had an interesting night. The *first* time it was voted on in the full House Labor and Commerce Committee it **failed** on a tie vote with two of the D’s (Delegates Kory and Keam) voting against the bill. There was a gasp in the room. The upside of this… they’re hearing us. The downside… They called for another vote and it passed the second time (13-8) so it will go to the House floor and comments from the Committee suggest it is well on its way to passage to help the overall cause of getting rights for domestic workers.
HOWEVER – It was noted by Delegate Sullivan that there is “an au pair problem” in the bill. He noted that his own family had 11 au pairs, that au pairs don’t fall under the typical domestic worker category – lawyers are looking at it, etc. He said the conversation is ongoing. Delegate Sullivan said he spoke with Senator McClellan and she is open to looking at other carve-outs (no commitment, but “open”). Delegate Wilt also spoke in favor of a carve-out.
I understand that the agencies do have lobbyists looking for another way to solve the problem in this session. I understand we may hear from them pretty soon. The hope/goal is to add an amendment to a different bill.
In the meanwhile, please prepare for this effort to rev up again when we hear of the next steps. We will need to call, write and maybe even show up in person in Richmond if possible. We may get to the point where we need to do an advocacy day at the Capitol with host parents and maybe au pairs.
Please continue to get other host families engaged. The more the better. There are 1600 families. Only 563 are in the regional Facebook group. We have had a small group, but with loud voices.
WAYS TO STAY ACTIVE:
--Ask your au pairs (former and current) to send a short letter in support of the program to [e-mail] They can mention what it has meant to them, what they have enjoyed, learned, etc. I want to start collecting local stories to share with legislators and likely the Governor's office.
--Please follow FB for quick updates. This page has been very active: Au Pair Host Parents (only) DC/MD/VA Area
--If you have the time and talents to help the program at large, this is another FB group page of active parents in WA, MA and VA: Au pair families of America - host family sub-group
--I will try to send out updates to parents in the [e-mail]. There is more than one of us monitoring it, but we do have kids, jobs, etc. That’s why Facebook may be easier for those on social media.
THEY HEARD US. DON’T GIVE UP. Let’s find the next train leaving the station and #SaveTheAuPairProgramVA
Stay tuned and stay engaged!
Video from hearing (starts at roughly 5:44): https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00304/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2?fk=2458&viewMode#agenda_

[jsteele]

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/45/359911.page