Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed paid family leave, saying it’s the private sector’s role

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, vetoed a bill that would have established a paid family and medical leave insurance program in the state, saying the private sector should provide these benefits to workers.

The bill would have required the Virginia Employment Commission, a state workforce agency, to establish a program providing up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to covered individuals. Eligible employees would have received 80% of their weekly wages under the benefit. The legislation stipulated that workers could use the leave if they needed to care for a new child or a family member with a serious health condition, as well as deal with a serious health condition themselves, among other reasons.

The program would have been funded by contributions from both Virginia employers and employees.

In a statement following his veto, Youngkin said he believes employers should establish leave benefits. The proposed program, he said, is “a one-size-fits-all solution that removes the incentive for the private sector to provide these benefits. Many businesses in Virginia already have paid family and medical leave policies.”

Where the private sector stands on paid leave. Though the share of private companies offering paid family leave is growing, this benefit isn’t yet the norm nationally. Four in 10 HR professionals that the Society for Human Resource Management surveyed said their organizations offered paid parental leave in 2023, up from 33% the previous year. Just one-third of those surveyed said their employer offered paid leave for employees to care for immediate family, while 18% offered paid leave to care for extended family.

The National Partnership for Women & Families noted that most people in the US don’t get paid leave through their jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That includes 3.4 million workers in Virginia, representing about 78% of the state’s workforce.

If Youngkin had signed the bill, Virginia would have become the 14th state to establish a paid family and medical leave program; California, New York, and Massachusetts are among the states that have laws on the books requiring them to provide these benefits, according to the Center for American Progress.

President Joe Biden indicated in his proposed FY 2025 budget that establishing a federal paid leave program is a priority for his administration. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working on legislation that would go further than the Family and Medical Leave Act, and House representatives developed a framework proposal they shared in January, Politico reported.