Anonymous wrote:I’m in Maryland but I’ve been following this closely on FB and here.
I just want to give a huge thank you and congratulations to the moms who came together and used their professional expertise to get $h!t DONE pro bono and with no support from the agencies. And to everyone who wrote letters and made phone calls of support.
Y’all stopped an important precedent from being set and hopefully taught the NDWA and care.com lobby not to mess with a region full of lawyers and lobbyists . Not holding my breath that they won’t try to target MD but you all have exposed a dark truth about the reality behind the push to pass these laws.

Also worth noting that care.com sells payroll software which I’m sure they’re gladly advertising to the few remaining host families in MA and always seeking a bigger customer base...

and dads!

I’m in Maryland but I’ve been following this closely on FB and here.
I just want to give a huge thank you and congratulations to the moms who came together and used their professional expertise to get $h!t DONE pro bono and with no support from the agencies. And to everyone who wrote letters and made phone calls of support.
Y’all stopped an important precedent from being set and hopefully taught the NDWA and care.com lobby not to mess with a region full of lawyers and lobbyists . Not holding my breath that they won’t try to target MD but you all have exposed a dark truth about the reality behind the push to pass these laws.

Also worth noting that care.com sells payroll software which I’m sure they’re gladly advertising to the few remaining host families in MA and always seeking a bigger customer base...

Anonymous wrote:Good luck in DC! Education is key. As you can learn from this thread, there is a well funded, nationwide effort to drive families out of the au pair program. This includes “fact sheets” prepared for local legislators that grossly misrepresent the program. Also, as documented in this thread, those same local politicians may have taken ALOT of money from the group trying to target au pair programs. Stick to the facts, educate your representatives, and be prepared to hold them accountable for valuing money over their electorate.

Do you know what finally made the bill pass? Last I read here it seemed like a lost cause...

Good luck in DC! Education is key. As you can learn from this thread, there is a well funded, nationwide effort to drive families out of the au pair program. This includes “fact sheets” prepared for local legislators that grossly misrepresent the program. Also, as documented in this thread, those same local politicians may have taken ALOT of money from the group trying to target au pair programs. Stick to the facts, educate your representatives, and be prepared to hold them accountable for valuing money over their electorate.

This is great news for us DC residents, It will be really hard for the council to no add the au pair exemption like in VA and New York. Congratulations to the VA families who fought for this!

https://www.virginiamercury.com/2020/03/08/virginia-lawmakers-vote-to-raise-the-minimum-wage-to-12/

“... it retains exemptions for agricultural workers, students workers, au pairs participating in a federal exchange program and temporary foreign workers.“

We will see what is said, and by who, about SB 804, and how it should be interpreted.

So, what is your next move, NDWA? Where else will you give your money and what bills will you attempt to shove through the various states? Is it any surprise that the states with the top participation in the au pair program were the first ones targeted for legislation by the NDWA after their success in Massachusetts? This was never about workers rights as much as it was about killing a competing program.

In Virginia, we will be watching.

All that remains is the governor’s signature.

Unlike in Massachusetts, there will be no confusion as to whether local or federal law controls - the federally created and regulated J1 visa, au pair program in Virginia clearly remains under the purview of federal law.

Working families in Virginia, rather than out of state money, have stood up and been heard.

Companion bill HB 395 has the same exemption here (that is what the conference was for, to resolve the differences to both bills):

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB395H3

SB7, as passed by the Senate today:

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB7S4

Includes the following exemption:

“ "Employee" does not include the following:
***

14. Any person participating as an au pair in the U.S. Department of State's Exchange Visitor Program governed by 22 C.F.R. § 62.31;“

Among those approving this amended bill - Jennifer McClellan.

All of the host parents who reached out to their representatives have been heard!

The voice of the people is sometimes more powerful than the voice of the dollar. Sometimes.

Exactly. A troll baiting people with provocative statements that have nothing to do with the Virginia legislation. And invoking the death of someone who WAS NOT PART OF THE US AU PAIR PROGRAM is despicable. It disrespects that person and their memory. Their life and death should not be a prop for your false comparison.

After a week of pages on this thread of real evidence of the issues at play in Virginia and direct focus on the legislation in Virginia, a tragedy in England is cited, again...we are going in circles. Sophie Lionnet could not get help from the State Department in the U.S. because she was not in the U.S. She was in England. She was not part of the J1 visa program in the U.S. She was in England. She could not rematch in the U.S. She was in England. The host family was not vetted by anyone in the U.S., because, again, she was in England.

Please do not disrespect the dead to make false arguments in an attempt to be provocative and smear the program in the U.S.

Anonymous wrote:Please remind me how this rematch discussion relates to any of the pending legislation in Virginia.

I believe there is room for ample discussion about how rematches are handled. I certainly have some thoughts, based on my personal experience. It did not go well, but that had nothing to do with anything in the bills being considered in Virginia.

I think a discussion about rematch warrants it’s own thread. Feel free to start one. Let’s keep this one focus on the Virginia legislation.

+1000, I am the PP who took the bait with the rematch conversation, I should have known better.