On June 18, the New York City Council’s Committee on Health held a hearing on 3 new local laws:
- Introduction Number 718-2024 – in relation to requiring the City to establish family building benefits for City employees to cover some or all of the costs of assisted reproduction and adoption for City employees without conditioning reimbursement on an infertility diagnosis
- Proposed Introduction Number 435-A-2024 – in relation to expanding availability of rapid testing for sexually transmitted infections
- Proposed Resolution Number 165-A-2024 – resolution calling upon New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S-6118-A/A-6177-A, known as the Equity in Fertility Treatment Act.
Good morning, City Council Members.
I am Alice Wong, Executive Director of NYC Managerial Employees Association. Thank you for this hearing to address important health benefits for City employees. The MEA supports these three initiatives.
- We ask City Council to clarify the insurance coverage amount and identify where the funding will come from.
- We seek clarification that these programs will not be expanded at the cost of additional employee contribution.
- We ask for clarification on how these new initiatives will tie to the current Paid Parental Leave (PPL) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs.
- We stand firm that the Paid Parental Leave Program that took away two annual leave days from managers who earn 27 days, a year, is unfair. This is because mangers who earn less than 27 days, per year, do not contribute any annual leave days to fund the Program. It is most likely these are the managers who will benefit from the Program.
Thank you for your time and attention to these important matters.
Sincerely,
Alice Wong
Executive Director