On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, the US House Education and Workforce Committee, Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, held a hearing to review the state of paid parental and family leave. The testimony from the hearing is available at “Balancing Careers and Care: Examining Innovative Approaches to Paid Leave” | Committee Repository | U.S. House of Representatives.
Witnesses reviewed legislation that has been enacted by states, noting that the programs varied with respect to coverage, compensation, and financing. Also, many employers have established private paid leave programs. Employers operating in many states are faced with assuring compliance with differing state requirements.
The House subcommittee released a summary of the hearing at Hearing Recap: “Balancing Careers and Care: Examining Innovative Approaches to Paid Leave”.
One suggestion during the hearing was that it might be helpful to develop a network similar to the ICON network used by states to track different state UI laws that enables individuals to file interstate claims when claimants live and/or work in multiple states.
There was also recognition that small employers may not have the resources to administer paid leave or to pay the benefits provided in a private, state or federal paid leave program. Subcommittee members noted the recent enactment of increased tax credits for small business to provide for child care (See Section 70401 of PL 119-21). Other subcommittee members favored federal legislation to provide a universal care program.
We have scheduled a session at the National UI Issues conference May 13- 15 in Salt Lake City to review paid leave programs and the relationship to Unemployment Insurance. Who pays for them? What is the status of state implementation of new paid leave programs? Is state or federal legislation needed?
