Democrats appear likely to abandon their plans to create a new federal paid family and medical leave program as part of their sprawling domestic policy package, yielding to opposition from a crucial centrist swing vote, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia.
But Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, the provision’s biggest champion in the Senate, cautioned on Wednesday night that after three conversations, Mr. Manchin had assured her that he was still keeping an open mind.
Still, the odds look long for the inclusion of even a stripped-back family leave provision. The concession to Mr. Manchin was disclosed by three people familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe ongoing negotiations. It came after days of harried negotiations to salvage the program, which had already been cut down to just four weeks from a proposed dozen weeks in a bid to appease the senator.
Proponents even offered to narrow the benefit dramatically, to cover leave only for new parents, not sicknesses or other family emergencies.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/us/politics/paid-family-leave-manchin.html
Comments