Two Democratic bills that would pay for family medical leave were introduced in the legislature this week.

In a report for The Seattle Times, Bernard Ellouk explained how the proposals could function:

“Workers could use extended paid leave for such events as the birth of a child or a health emergency, or to care of an ill family member.

The proposals would be funded by payroll premiums costing each employer and employee about $2 a week for a typical worker, supporters said.”

House Bill 1116 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Labor and Workplace Standards committee at 8 a.m. Jan. 19. Senate Bill 5032 was directed to the Senate Commerce, Labor and Sports committee, but as of Friday morning, is not scheduled for a hearing.

Government funded assistance programs remain a bedrock of the Democratic platform, and these state bills certainly are Democrat-designed and led. But in recent years Republicans across the country and at the federal level have warmed to paid family leave. The party that, for decades, sought support from family values voters, may be considering ways to direct money or tax relief to parents and family members with a new child or family emergency.

Russell Berman highlighted this shift in an article for The Atlantic in August:

“…A Republican-backed research group is…suggesting the kind of solution conservatives have rejected for years: a new entitlement program for the working poor.

The proposal from the American Action Forum, set for release (in August), would establish a paid-leave benefit providing up to $3,500 over 12 weeks to workers with an annual income below $28,000. The structure of the benefit is modeled on the Earned Income Tax Credit, the 40-year-old program that supplements the paychecks of low-income Americans on a sliding scale and which has drawn support from both Republicans and Democrats.”

Of course, where (or whether) that type of policy could fit with the Congress Republican’s plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is unclear.

Erin Fenner: erin@washingtonstatewire.com, @erinfenner

This story is cross-posted on State of Reform. 

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