Racine City Council increases paid parental leave for employees without an estimate on monetary costs | Local News

However, the debate on the issue raised some questions about the future of the policy, which was passed with Alderman Jeff Peterson voting no.

Peterson said, conceptually, he agreed with the extended time off for new parents but was concerned because there was no price tag attached.

“I have a problem with it being permanently in place with no budget numbers, no dollar numbers, attached to it,” he said. “Conceptually, no problem. But put a dollar amount on it.”

Peterson and Alderman Henry Perez also raised the issue of the benefit being for the non-represented employees only. Employees in the Police, Fire and Transit departments are all represented by unions, so they would not have this benefit unless they collectively bargained for it.

City Finance Director Kathleen Fischer said during a previous meeting the city would be able to develop more reliable cost estimates in the first years of the program.

The city’s workforce has long been older and not in need of parental leave, complicating its ability to develop a reliable price tag based on historical use of paid parental leave, she said.

However, the needs of the workforce have begun to change as the city experiences retirements. In short: The workforce has gotten younger.

A recent internal poll of the workforce by the city showed increased paid parental leave was a sought-after benefit. Fischer told the Finance and Personnel Committee three people in her office alone will be taking advantage of parental leave in the near future.

During the discussion of the issue among Finance and Personnel Committee members, it was noted longer paid parental leave could put the city in a good position for future recruitment of new personnel.

While everyone agreed the benefit was positive, it still has to be paid for. Peterson questioned where the money would come from.

City Administrator Paul Vornholt explained the money would come from the Health Insurance Fund.

“We believe this year we can easily cover those expenses,” he said.

Moving forward, Vornholt said, the City Council may have to re-examine the policy and it might be incorporated into another area of the budget.

Peterson said the city appeared to be guessing about the costs.

Vornholt agreed that was true, but added that was almost always the case, especially since they could not predict the kind of catastrophic health situations that city employees might encounter throughout the year that would draw money from the Health Insurance Fund. He said the city works with actuaries who make estimates based on their experience, but the reality was catastrophic health situations could not be predicted.

Peterson had a second issue with the benefit because for the time being: it is only available to non-represented employees.

Perez also took issue with the fact the union employees were being left out.

“If the policy is as good as we tout it to be, we need to find a way to make it for all — not just the non-represented,” he said.

He asked if the city could just extend the benefit outside of the bargaining process, but the answer to that was no.

Vornholt said “the bargaining units can some forward at any time if they’re interested” to “make an offer the city can react to.”

City Attorney Scott Letteney said there were a number of outstanding issues the city and unions were bargaining, and the issue could be raised there.

There also is the possibility of the city re-opening negotiations.

Perez, who voted in favor of the increased benefit, suggested at a future time the City Council pass a motion in support of increased parental leave being offered to represented employees.

Multiple alderman spoke in favor of increased parental leave.

Alderman Natalia Taft shared her personal experience of having a new baby with little or no family leave, which she said was very hard on her family.

The city has touted the increased paid family leave as a tool for both recruiting and retaining new employees.

Outgoing Alderman Jason Meekma shared benefits to paid parental leave, such as making it easier for parents to bond with their baby.

He noted there simply was not enough attention on the benefits associated with fathers being able to bond with their newborns.

“Many fathers,” Meekma said, “take little to no time to be exclusively home with their newborns in the first few months … the bonding period is essential and is something that has been undervalued for a very long time.”

Research has demonstrated when both parents are able to care for a newborn, the likelihood is increased that the family will stay together.

Both Meekma and Alderman Melissa Kaprelian noted the long-term health benefits to the child.

Kaprelian pointed out the disparity between black communities and other communities in terms of health outcomes for infants.

“Racine, along with our neighboring municipalities, fared horribly in our African-American infant mortality rates,” she said. “If we can be a part of improving that, it would be fantastic.”

A federal report released in 2018 showed that infant mortality for the state of Wisconsin was the highest in the nation. The report indicated the rate of death of black babies was 3 times higher than for white babies.