Bipartisan Efforts To Provide Paid Leave: A Conversation With Congresswomen Stephanie Bice And Chrissy Houlahan

For all of its challenges, the Covid-19 pandemic has proven to have rightfully accelerated discussion and possible action on a few public policy issues, one of those is paid leave. Efforts to tackle paid leave have provided a prime bipartisan opportunity for lawmakers, especially following the current Administration's efforts to include paid leave in their Build Back Better (BBB) framework, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and in both Chambers, have rightfully so, rolled up their sleeves to attempt to tackle this challenging issue.

Following a strong push for paid leave in the 117th Congress, a group of bipartisan lawmakers in the House, led by Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Stephanie Bice (R-OK), formed a working group to study options for making working and caregiving more compatible, the effects of paid family leave on maternal health and to learn from states programs what has been successful for businesses and the financial security of working caregivers. Other group members include Reps. Colin Allred (D-Texas), Julia Letlow (R-La.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Haley Stevens (D-Mich.).