Bipartisan House lawmakers unveil paid family leave incentive bill

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill aimed at expanding paid family leave, the result of more than two years of work by the House Paid Family Leave Working Group.

Titled the More Paid Leave for More Americans Act, the bill would establish a three-year pilot grant program within the Department of Labor aimed at encouraging states to establish their own paid family leave programs using public-private partnerships.

Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), the co-chairs of the working group, were optimistic about the prospects for the legislation being signed into law, saying that party leaders and the White House are aware of it. 

“We’ve had conversations with leadership, but I think more importantly, we’ve had conversations with committees. We’ve had conversations with the White House. We have really done our due diligence to make sure everybody knows the importance of this,” Bice said, adding that the bill is something “we feel confident we can get across the finish line.”

Houlahan called working on the initiative the “highlight of her Congressional career,” and added: “We have been doing our homework and doing the socialization that’s necessary to appear on the House side and also on the Senate side, on the Republican side and on the Democratic side, to make sure that there are no surprises.”

To qualify for the grants, states must have enacted laws establishing such public-private programs — such as one in which the government funds the benefit but has a private partner administer it — that cover at least the category of birth or adoption under the Family Medical Leave Act. 

The programs must provide at least six weeks of paid leave to be eligible for the federal grant. And it also requires paid benefit being a level that is at least 67 percent wage replacement rate for individuals at or below the poverty line for a family of four ($31,200), or 50 percent wage replacement for individuals earning more than double the poverty line for a family of four ($62,400).

The maximum benefit is 150 percent of a state’s average weekly wage, in order to avoid high-income earners getting large benefits.

In addition, states would have to participate in the Interstate Paid Leave Action Network, which would establish best practices for paid leave programs based on success in various states with the aim for “harmonization” across the patchwork of different state laws.

The price tag on the program, according to a summary of the legislation, would be $500 million — $265 million for grant program $235 million for the paid leave network — which would be “fully offset” through “several pay-fors negotiated on a bipartisan basis.”

One of those pay-fors, Bice said, would be changing funding for extracurricular activities on military bases. Another pay-for in the bill text is halving the amount authorized for an annual report on monitoring illegal and unreported fishing and seafood.

Currently, thirteen states and the District of Columbia have paid family leave programs, while Hawaii has paid disability leave and three states have voluntary programs to allow workers and employers to purchase private family or medical leave insurance, according to the Department of Labor.