Democrats Put Paid Leave Back In Budget Bill Following Disappointing Virginia Election Results
House Democrats are expected to put paid family and medical leave back into the $1.75 trillion budget bill after witnessing disappointing election results Tuesday night in Virginia.
“I have asked the Ways and Means Committee for its legislation for Paid Family and Medical Leave to be included in this morning’s hearing,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a letter.
The plan will cover four weeks of paid family or medical leave, according to two sources. The proposal was initially dropped from the package last week when Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., balked at the price tag. After hearing the news that paid leave was back in the bill Manchin expressed his opposition, telling reporters “they know how I feel about it.”
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said paid leave is “a policy that will finally give workers and their families the peace of mind of knowing that when disaster strikes, they can rely on paid leave to avoid total crisis,”
Rep. Rosa De Lauro, D-Conn., declared her support for including paid leave in the bill saying, “All workers deserve this. Paid family and medical leave should be guaranteed, not left to the whims of employers."
In addition to paid leave, Democrats are also working to include lower prescription drug prices and establish a $2,000 out-of-pocket Medicare cost limit for seniors.
"Fixing prescription drug pricing has consistently been a top issue for Americans, year after year, including the vast majority of both Democrats and Republicans," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The two decisions come just one day after Virginia elected Glenn Youngkin to be its first Republican governor since 2009, despite President Joe Biden winning the state by 10 points a year ago. According to the Associated Press, the lengthy negotiations on Capitol Hill were a deciding factor in the vote.
“We got to produce, we’ve got to get results for the people,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
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