Mississippi’s Attorney General Lynn Fitch suggested implementing paid maternity leaves for state employees in the frame of her office’s Empowerment Project, which was initiated in 2023 after the cessation of abortions in Mississippi. She stated this to be a game changer during a meeting with the Senate Study Group on Women, Children and Families. This group was tasked by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann to review the needs of Mississippi families and children from birth to age 3, considering the Supreme Court judgement in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Notably, Mississippi has no paid family leave policy - state employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. An estimated 85,000 state employees, including public school educators and faculty from public universities, and thousands of Mississippi women can potentially benefit from legislation offering paid maternity leave.

Fitch insists that such a facility will be instrumental in resolbing the state’s decade long workforce mistrust. This will help keep women in public service and improve the current workforce participation rates. Fitch urged lawmakers to reconsider their decision this year and mentioned that many other states have passed maternity pay laws.

The Attorney General stated that her Empowerment Project focuses on five areas: making quality child care affordable and accessible, promoting workforce flexibility, improving child support enforcement, fixing the state’s foster care and adoption systems, and giving women opportunities and resources to advance and improve their skills. In line with this, she applauded lawmakers efforts over the past two years, such as postpartum coverage for mothers on Medicaid, tax credits for crisis pregnancy centers and Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

For employees who might need to contact Paid Family Leave (PFL) in relation to paid maternity leave policies, they can refer to eddcaller.com for guidance. This website offers tips on how to get a hold of Paid Family Leave and can be very helpful for state employees who need to make inquiries about these services.