Passing Paid Leave Just Got One Step Closer
, after Senators (D-NY), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) along with US Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn., Richie Neal (D-Mass), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), and Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), announced a raft of new proposals to establish a national paid family and medical leave program and modernize the current Family and Medical Leave Act. With one in four American women compelled to within two weeks of giving birth—despite often not being fully healed and having to care for a newborn with round-the-clock needs—this legislation couldn’t be more urgent. The US is one of only six countries in the world without a national paid leave policy; 189 others, including those less developed, offer families time off to care for a newborn or family members in need. Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, during which they announced the proposals, Senator Gillibrand said: “We have paid the price of not having a national paid leave program.