One of the benefits of having a blog is it allows me to write about important issues that are below the radar in Washington. At the moment, Congress is focusing on a stimulus package and promising a bipartisan attempt to keep the economy out of recession.

That effort is rightly consuming most of the issue oxygen in Washington. But another area where bipartisanship may be percolating is workplace flexibility. Labor laws develop at a glacial pace compared to a stimulus bill. Still, it may be worth paying attention to work/life balance legislation.

Usually, it is Democrats who have the highest profile on such issues. But I attended a January 22 Capitol Hill event on the subject sponsored by the National Center for Policy Analysis. The organization calls itself nonpartisan, but it does “promote private alternatives to government regulation and control,” giving it a conservative flavor.

The session was chaired by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington and a member of the House Education and Labor Committee. It also featured a speaker from the conservative Hudson Institute.

The NCPA is promoting flexibility policies designed to help women enter and stay in the workforce. They include allowing one member of dual-earner couples to trade in duplicate benefits for higher wages and enabling part-time workers to accept lower wages in exchange for greater health and retirement benefits. Among other proposals: flexible hours, portable benefits and changes in Social Security law as it applies to spouses.

Terry Neese, a distinguished fellow at the NCPA and the owner of a personnel services company in Oklahoma City, said labor laws written during the Depression, when few women worked outside the home, must be updated. In today’s economy, more than 60 percent of mothers with children are working and more than half of all married couples are dual earners.

Neese stressed that she’s not advocating more government programs. “Women want to be free, under the law and in the economy,” she said at the event. “Tax law, labor law and a host of other institutions are still designed from top-to-bottom for an Ozzie and Harriet lifestyle. … Women have been left behind by our outdated labor laws.”

A recently introduced Democratic bill proposes a way to address the problem. Modeled after practices in some European countries, the Working Family Flexibility Act would give employees the right to request flexible work options. It would not mandate that employers grant permission, but it does require them to talk to employees about flexibility and provide an explanation if it’s denied. It also would protect employees from retaliation.

The bill was written by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York. Kennedy is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. It is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Christopher Dodd, as well as Rep. George Miller, D-California and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

Labor law often creates partisan fissures. But that may not necessarily be the case when it comes to work/life balance.

“There’s recognition by both parties that the world has changed and we need to update our laws,” McMorris Rodgers said. “Republicans would welcome changes that allow the individual more flexibility. The big question is where the unions come down.”

Although there have been hearings on work/life balance bills, committee and floor votes are not on the horizon. There are many complications, including the fact that it’s an election year and legislative time is limited.

It’s likely that proponents are preparing a foundation for more substantial action on flexibility next year under a new Congress.

“We’re increasing awareness at this point,” McMorris Rodgers said. “We need to do a better job of telling the story.”

That conversation also needs to take place in the presidential campaign, Neese said. “It’s really important that we talk to the nominees for president. These issues are important to women.”