Did the Family Care Act Just Pass?
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
For more than a year, The Fund and our colleagues, community members, and legislators have been championing The Family Care Act. The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep O’Mara, alongside other Representatives, nonprofits, and coalitions have worked tirelessly to get the Family Care Act passed. On Wed. Feb 25th, the House passed the bill!
This is a big step! We are thankful for the bipartisan support that made this possible, as well as House Leadership, Speaker McClinton and Representatives Bradford. [See the roll call page to learn how your representative voted.]
As so often with policy change, we celebrate progress and then continue to work toward our goal of equity.
The bill that was passed by the state House included amendments:
All leave would be 12 weeks
Change from insurance fund (public fund the state runs with payroll deductions like unemployment) to a mandate (companies would be required to provide paid leave through private options - think medical insurance you get through employment, except this would be required with the parameters outlined in the bill)
The creation of a fund that would reimburse folks who are self-employed and businesses that have less than 50 employees for their cost
A step forward, yes- but we are not there yet.
What happens next? Senate need Labor and Industry Committee, chaired by Senator Robinson, to vote the bill out of committee and then for Senate leadership to call the bill for a vote on the Senate floor.
THIS IS COMPLICATED! We know!
To make more sense of it, refer to our How a Bill Becomes a Law reference guide.
Additional resources
PA General Assembly page with the information on HB200 Here you can see:
Who sponsored
Who cosponsored
Where the bill is in the process
Who voted how (known as “Roll Call”)
This is the final bill language. The first 41 pages are text with strikethroughs. This is the original language of the bill, which as a result of the amendments that passed isn't the final language. The final language starts on 42 and reflects what was passed yesterday.
