New York, NY – Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D,WF-Fresh Meadows) is urging Governor Cuomo and State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan to make paid family leave a budget priority during this year’s legislative session. Women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem, actor Cynthia Nixon, supermodel Christy Turlington Burns and more than 150 other female leaders from the arts, politics and business co-signed the letter.

Rozic’s call follows a national push for paid family leave and comes on the heels of the Governor’s State of the State address.

The full letter can be read below.

Governor Cuomo & Senate Majority Leader Flanagan: Make paid family leave a priority in 2016

With the 2016 legislative session about to begin, women in every region of New York are speaking with one voice: it’s time for paid family leave.

We, and the businesses, labor unions, organizations, constituents, and taxpayers we represent, urge you to make passing a strong paid family leave bill a top priority in the coming legislative session. With only 12% of private sector workers able to take time away from work in the event of a family emergency or the arrival of a new child, New York women need decisive action now. Our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends can’t afford to wait another year.

Paid family leave is one of the most important economic and health issues for women across the United States and here in New York. With 71% of us now juggling full-time employment with primary caretaker responsibilities for both our parents and children, we need economic policy that reflects the reality of the changing workforce. Without paid family leave, too many women are forced to leave their jobs to care for new children or ill family members; others return to work too soon after having a baby, long before it is healthy or prudent to do so.

The situation for low-income women is even more impossible. One in five New York women live in low-income households where even a week without a paycheck could wipe out their entire savings. Women who are unable to take leave after the birth of a child are 40% more likely to be forced onto public assistance or food stamps. Paid family leave would not only alleviate these problems – it can also increase a woman’s workforce participation and lifetime earning potential. Thankfully, a movement is growing for paid family leave. 81% of Americans – including 65% of Republicans – believe that having paid time off to care for family members is “good for our nation.” In New York, 8 of 10 small business owners support extending our state’s Temporary Disability Insurance program to include paid family leave, and nearly 300 New York healthcare professionals and associations have attested to its immense health benefits.

New York risks falling behind. States SUCH AS California, Rhode Island, and New Jersey have had successful paid family leave policies for years, and more states are exploring similar legislation. Paid leave is now an important issue for candidates running for President, and has become broadly recognized as a common-sense solution to dire problems facing women – everywhere, it seems, but in Albany. For the past decade, a strong bill has been introduced and passed in the Assembly – now, the State Senate must truly stand behind women’s equality and make this legislation a reality.

Women are driving New York’s economy forward – we, and the families we love, should not have to endure another year without paid family leave. Governor Cuomo and Senator Flanagan: we are looking for your leadership on this critical issue.