How Democrats want to address paid family leave in 2023

While Democrats in Congress were able to accomplish much in the past two years, they ended up leaving several key policy priorities on the table — including federal paid leave.

Due to opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the proposal to guarantee all workers paid parental, medical, and caregiving leave was ultimately dropped from the expansive budget reconciliation bill that Democrats narrowly passed last year. Now, Democrats are trying to maintain the fight for paid leave — a difficult task given House Republican control and the ongoing bipartisan dispute over how to pay for the policy.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a longtime champion of paid leave, is among those pushing to keep the issue a Democratic priority. In a letter shared exclusively with Vox and sent to the Biden administration on Thursday, Gillibrand and 15 other senators asked the president to include $547 billion in funding for the 12-week paid leave program in the upcoming 2024 budget.

Gillibrand’s letter illustrates the difficult position Democrats are in when it comes to comprehensive paid leave, especially since the president’s budget is a messaging document that won’t move forward. The hope is that Biden includes the potential of this policy as one way to maintain momentum on the topic in a divided Congress. Short of passing comprehensive legislation, supporters say the administration could issue an executive action that expands leave access to federal contractors, and Congress could take steps to amend existing laws to provide new unpaid benefits to millions.

Currently, the US is the only industrialized country that does not guarantee workers a day for parental leave or sick leave. This gap disproportionately affects low-wage workers and workers of color, who are less likely to receive such protection from employers. Overall, 24 percent of all private sector workers now have paid family leave, compared to 12 percent of the lowest-paid workers.

Beyond efforts like this letter, there is potential for limited progress on the issue, advocates argue. Executive actions from the Biden administration could target federal contractors and give state money to research the program. Congress could also take steps to strengthen the unpaid leave guaranteed by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), including legislation that would eliminate exceptions to the law’s protections.

“I think there is real progress that can be made in this Congress and there are incremental wins,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, executive director of the advocacy group Paid Leave for All.

The hard political reality of paid leave

The biggest obstacle to progress in paid leave is how it is funded. Although some Republicans – including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) – have expressed support for some form of paid leave legislation, the two parties have historically disagreed on how to pay for such programs. That gap, ultimately, has proven difficult to bridge, and could be a major challenge to doing more in a divided Congress.

Gillibrand’s FAMILY Act, the bill she wants to reintroduce this term, is a major Democratic proposal and would pay for 12 weeks of paid leave through payroll taxes provided by companies and workers. This is the model used in many states including California, New York, and New Jersey to cover costs for these programs. Previously, Biden proposed that the paid leave program be paid for with higher tax rates for wealthier people.

Republicans, however, refused to raise new taxes, and proposed alternative funding mechanisms, such as asking people to use Social Security funds they would otherwise receive. As Alexia Fernández Campbell previously explained to Vox, those who take paid leave for three months will now have to delay retirement, and access Social Security three months later than others, according to the bill from Ernst and Sen. Mike Lee (R). -UT). A bipartisan plan introduced by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) would allow parents to take paid leave if they make a trade-off and receive less funding than the child tax credit in the future.

Because the Democrats are no longer in the House, paid leave faces even more obstacles to advance this Congress, because many Republicans are skeptical of developing any social programs. Any bill would also need at least nine Republicans to sign up in the Senate to clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Democrats have struggled to build Senate GOP support for paid leave in past sessions, a trend that will continue this year.

How Democrats can still get ahead

Although the prospects for a national paid leave program don’t look good this term, both attorneys and Gillibrand’s office see an opening. First, as indicated in the letter, the lawmakers ask the Biden administration to continue to increase paid leave as a top priority, a step that will send a message about the party’s policy platform before the 2024 election.

Vicki Shabo, a fellow at New America and an expert on the issue, also noted that the administration could make more concrete policy changes through executive action by requiring federal contractors to offer 12 weeks of paid leave and providing grants to states to evaluate the impact. from these programs. Although paid leave action has stalled at the federal level, 11 states and Washington, DC, have approved the program, and additional federal funding could help more states conduct research to determine how to implement it.

In Congress, a narrower bill is likely. Gillibrand’s office noted that she is continuing to talk with Republicans in the House and Senate to see if there are areas for bipartisan compromise. A new bipartisan working group in the House is also giving advocates hope that lawmakers can find ground on changes to the FMLA that would make unpaid leave less expensive. Whether GOP members of the working group can get a majority of House Republicans in place with these policies remains uncertain.

“There are improvements to the Family and Medical Leave Act that will increase job protection for people,” Shabo said.

FMLA, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, guarantees that most workers can receive 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new child or sick family member. However, the bill does not apply to the 44 percent of workers who work for small or part-time businesses.

Shabo noted that Congress could pass legislation, such as the Job Protection Act from Rep. Lauren Underwood and Sen. Tina Smith, which would make the law applicable to businesses of all sizes, and the Part-Time Workers’ Bill of Rights from Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D- IL), which would make sure that part-time workers get more protections. In addition, lawmakers may consider other bills, including the Family Medical Leave Modernization Act from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who would expand the definition of “family” to allow workers to take leave to care for more individuals including domestic partners, in-laws, grandparents, and siblings.

Many of these proposals have been pushed by Democrats, although some Republicans, like Ernst, have also signaled interest in more targeted reforms.

Legislation Ernst has introduced, for example, can update the law to ensure that all parents can take the full amount of leave enabling. Currently, two parents working for the same employer must split 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave, a rule that the FAIR Leave Act, a bill Sinema is working on, will change.

These proposals, although limited, all supporters hope that Congress will consider them in the new term because of the challenges that a more comprehensive paid leave bill could face. Even those measures are poised to run into GOP opposition, but as Republicans focus on other policy priorities and it’s clear that less social programs could hurt business interests.