(The Center Square) – A cancer organization says the Illinois General Assembly missed an opportunity during the spring session to lessen the burden of cancer on Illinoisans.
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network was hoping for a comprehensive paid medical and family leave bill that provides family leave insurance benefits to eligible employees in Illinois.
“What we were looking to do is set up a program where you could take a longer extended period time off and you would have job security, your job would be waiting for you when you got back, but also where you could draw a paycheck at the same time,” said Ally Lopshire, government relations director for the Cancer Action Network.
Starting Jan. 1, Illinois will become one of three states to require employers to offer paid time off for any reason. Illinois employers must offer workers paid time off based on hours worked, with no need to explain the reason for the absence.
Opponents of the cancer paid time off said such legislation would place even more burdens on Illinois small businesses trying to recover from the pandemic.
“That’s why we are working very closely with the business community, with the labor community, all the different stakeholders to come up with a program that works for everybody,” Lopshire said.
Lopshire said she is hopeful the General Assembly will take up the measure during the fall veto session.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that in the United States, one in two men have a lifetime risk of developing cancer. For women, the lifetime risk is one in three. The number of people with cancer is increasing in most communities because more and more people are living to an age of greatest cancer occurrence.
