Paid Parental Leave Advances

A measure (HR-626) to provide four weeks of paid parental leave time to federal employees has cleared the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee despite opposition from the ranking Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, on cost grounds. Backers said that many new parents cannot afford to take the leave without pay of up to 12 weeks that is allowed under current policy and that while annual and sick leave can be used for part of that period, many of them lack such leave to use. Issa cited a CBO estimate that the cost would be $850 million over five years and said that given the overall economic conditions, it is “simply not the right time to ask taxpayers to pay for a new benefit for federal employees.” If enacted, the four paid weeks would be part of the current 12 week leave entitlement. CBO said there would be some offsetting savings from better retention of employees, although it said such savings would be relatively small.