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Bipartisan Bill Would Extend Feds’ Paid Parental Leave to Military Troops
Legislation would provide service members with 12 weeks of paid parental leave per year and would extend the benefit to scenarios involving miscarriages and stillbirths.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers this week introduced a bill that would extend to military service members the recently implemented paid parental leave program available to federal employees.
On Tuesday, Reps. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and David Joyce, R-Ohio, introduced the Servicemember Parental Leave Equity Act, which would grant members of the armed services 12 weeks per year of paid leave in the event of the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child. The program mirrors a similar benefit provided to civilian federal workers as part of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., has sponsored similar legislation in the Senate.