08 Jan 2024 BPC Action Applauds Bipartisan Paid Family Leave Policy Framework in Paid Parental Leave
This afternoon, the House Bipartisan Paid Family Leave Working Group released a landmark policy framework for expanding access to paid family leave. Working Group members include co-chairs Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Reps. Colin Allred (D-TX), Julia Letlow (R-LA), Mariannette Miller–Meeks (R-IA), and Haley Stevens (D-MI).
“It’s very exciting to kick off the new year off with a big step forward on paid family leave policy,” said Michele Stockwell, president of the Bipartisan Policy Center Action. “We commend the leadership of Reps. Bice and Houlahan and the other Working Group members. The framework provides a menu of pragmatic family- and business-friendly policy options that build upon existing programs, like the 45S employer tax credit, as well as new ideas such as improving opportunities for inter-state coordination and learning. These bipartisan ideas were cultivated from a year of listening to a diverse group of business, advocacy, and policy leaders.”
BPC Action commends the Working Group’s framework, which includes:
- Support for employers offering paid leave programs, including expansion of the Paid Family and Medical Leave business tax credit (known as 45S);
- Promoting harmonization across states by facilitating state paid leave administrators sharing and establishing best practices and common standards for paid leave programs;
- Giving small businesses additional tools to provide paid family leave using private insurance; and
- Funding for administration of state paid family leave programs.
The U.S. remains the only industrialized nation without a national paid leave program. BPC has provided policy analysis and recommendations on 45S and other tax supports for working families along with an array of other paid leave policies in recent years.
