Readout of White House State Legislative Convening on Paid Leave
Ahead of the 30th Anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, Jennifer Klein, Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council, and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, convened state legislators on the frontlines of advancing paid family and medical leave in their respective states. White House senior staff and officials from the Department of Labor, including the Women’s Bureau, also participated.
The Biden-Harris Administration continues to support a national paid family and medical leave program for families across the country and applauds states that have made significant progress in advancing paid leave. Currently, 11 states and the District of Columbia have passed paid family and medical leave laws.
Thanks to elected leaders and advocates, several states are prioritizing paid family and medical leave legislation this session, including Minnesota, where House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic are making this effort a top priority. In 2020, the Vermont legislature passed paid family and medical leave legislation, only to see the bill vetoed. This session, legislative leaders are ready to push again for working families.
White House officials thanked the legislators for their leadership and affirmed the Administration’s support and partnership in advancing paid family and medical leave throughout the country.
Participating state legislative leaders included:
- Illinois Representative Sonya Harper
- Maine Representative Kristen Cloutier
- Maine Senator Mattie Daughtry
- Michigan Representative Brenda Carter
- Michigan Representative Helena Scott
- Michigan Senator Erika Geiss
- Minnesota Senator Alice Mann
- New Mexico Representative Linda Serrato
- Pennsylvania Representative Jen O’Mara
- Pennsylvania Representative Liz Fiedler
- Vermont Representative Emilie Kornheiser
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