The bipartisan group working on making paid family leave available nationwide has released the framework for potential federal legislation. This group is co-chaired by Republican Congresswoman Stephanie Bice from Oklahoma and Democrat Chrissy Houlahan from Pennsylvania. The group has worked on understanding the challenges employers face with different paid leave programs across various states and aims to create a universal plan.

Bice highlighted that the U.S. is one of only seven developed countries that does not have a paid family leave program. Bice and Houlahan’s work aims to change this, but not all at once. Their goal is for more people to have access to paid leave than currently do. The group worked with various stakeholders throughout the previous year, keeping in mind existing state policies.

Their released framework is based on four pillars. Firstly, it proposes a public-private partnership rather than a government-funded mandate. Secondly, it aims to coordinate paid leave benefits across states that choose to participate. Thirdly, it encourages small businesses to provide paid leave through an insurance pool. Lastly, it extends current paid leave tax credits.

Bice believes they are about 35% into the process and identifies the difficult task ahead as writing the bill and adapting based on feedback, which will begin in the next few months.