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More GOP states embrace paid parental leave for teachers, public employees

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alabamareflector.com – Anna Claire Vollers – 2025-05-30 12:01:00


More Republican-led states are adopting paid parental leave for public employees, signaling growing bipartisan support for family-friendly workplace policies. States like Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, and South Carolina have passed laws offering paid leave to state workers, including teachers, often motivated by workforce retention amid shortages and economic needs. The trend gained momentum after the 2022 Dobbs decision, linking family support policies with pro-life messaging in conservative states. Paid leave provisions vary, generally granting several weeks off for birth, adoption, or caregiving. Lawmakers emphasize competitiveness with private employers and support for “sandwich generation” caregivers balancing work and family demands.

by Anna Claire Vollers, Alabama Reflector
May 30, 2025

This story originally appeared on Stateline.

More Republican-led states are giving paid parental leave to public school teachers and other state employees, signaling a broader acceptance of family-friendly workplace policies once championed primarily by Democrats.

“All of these red states, I think we’re late to the party,” said South Carolina state Rep. Beth Bernstein, a Democrat who sponsored a bill this year to increase state employees’ paid parental leave from six to 12 weeks. It passed the majority-Republican South Carolina House in April with strong bipartisan support.

This year, Alabama, Iowa and Mississippi joined 37 other states in granting paid parental leave to thousands of state workers.

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The trend has gathered steam in recent years. Some experts link it to the cascade of state abortion bans that followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which dismantled the federal right to abortion. Under fire from critics to do more to care for babies once they’re born, at least a dozen conservative-led states with abortion bans have since granted or expanded paid parental leave for their state employees.

But others say the increasing bipartisan support for measures that help working parents is also a reaction to economic realities.

“What we’ve seen, especially in more conservative states, is the public sector has experienced a lot of turnover,” said Kameron Dawson, legal director of the Southern Office of A Better Balance, a legal organization focused on workplace rights. “They’re looking for tools to recruit younger employees.”

Paid parental leave is the time off granted to workers for the birth or adoption of a baby, to care for a child, or to recover from a stillbirth or miscarriage. Without it, employees are left to cobble together their sick leave and vacation leave — or go unpaid — to stay home with a child and heal.

We’re trying to attract and retain state employees and teachers, and we’re in competition with everyone around us, and the private sector as well.

– Alabama Republican state Rep. Ginny Shaver

Alabama Republican state Rep. Ginny Shaver watched her daughter, a public school teacher, struggle to get the leave she needed after the births of her children in recent years.

“With her second, she had complications in her pregnancy and used up her [paid vacation and sick] leave before she even had the baby,” Shaver told Stateline. Her daughter contracted COVID-19, and the baby had to spend time in neonatal intensive care. “It was a very difficult time, and she had to take unpaid leave.”

Rep. Ginny Shaver (left), R-Leesburg, and Sen. Vivian Figures (right), D-Mobile, laughing in the House press room at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 20, 2025. The pair passed legislation to give eight weeks of parental leave to state employees and educators. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)

Last year, Shaver and Democratic state Sen. Vivian Figures worked to win approval of a paid parental leave bill for state employees. It failed.

But they tried again this year. With the support of Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, the state legislature — which has a Republican supermajority — passed it nearly unanimously. The new law gives female state employees, including teachers, eight weeks of paid parental leave in connection with birth, stillbirth or miscarriage, and gives male employees two weeks. Adoptive parents get eight weeks for one parent and two for the other.

Shaver said she thinks the law passed thanks to vocal support from the governor and increased awareness of the issue due to the work she and Figures did in previous sessions.

“And the fact that all of the southeast states around us offered it,” Shaver said. “We’re trying to attract and retain state employees and teachers, and we’re in competition with everyone around us, and the private sector as well.”

Keeping talent

For many Republicans, the workforce development argument for paid leave is a persuasive one. For states such as Alabama and South Carolina that have some of the lowest workforce participation rates in the nation, paid leave can be a tool to keep more people — particularly women — working. And it can be a way to retain educators as many states struggle with teacher shortages in K-12 schools.

“For several years we’ve seen state legislatures acknowledging the importance of child care to businesses and the economy,” said Feroza Freeland, policy director at the Southern Office of A Better Balance. “But in the last few years, we’ve seen a growing recognition that paid leave is another piece of that puzzle.”

States have taken up the issue because the federal government has not. The United States is a global outlier; among 38 peer nations, it’s the only one that doesn’t mandate paid parental leave, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. The group comprises 38 democracies with market-based economies.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993 and extended in 2020, only requires public agencies and companies with at least 50 employees to give up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for parents of newborns or newly adopted children, or caregivers of sick family members.

GOP support

During his first term, President Donald Trump publicly supported some forms of paid family leave and signed a defense bill that gives 12 weeks of paid parental leave to most federal employees.

Paid family leave was a signature issue for his daughter Ivanka Trump, at the time a senior adviser to the president. She even held a paid leave and child care summit at the White House in late 2019.

That set the stage for other Republicans to take up the issue more publicly. And after the Dobbs decision, family-friendly policies have increasingly become conservative talking points in states with restrictive abortion laws.

After the Mississippi House unanimously passed a paid parental leave bill earlier this year, Republican House Speaker Jason White celebrated the bill as a reflection of Mississippi’s status as a “pro-life state.”

In a post on X this week announcing her signing of a new paid parental leave law, Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds called Iowa “a pro-family state.”

North Carolina was one of the first Southern states to grant paid parental leave to state workers in 2019 when then-Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, signed an executive order. In 2023, several months after the Dobbs decision, the state’s majority-Republican legislature extended paid parental leave to public school employees by tacking it onto a law banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun signed an executive order in March to add up to eight additional weeks of paid leave for “childbirth recovery” to the state’s existing four weeks of paid parental leave.

Running the gamut

The new laws won’t apply to most residents, because they only cover state employees. But they could have a downstream effect.

Shaver, the Alabama lawmaker, said she hopes her state’s new law will not only help the state be competitive with the private sector, but also set a precedent for other employers to follow.

“I hope they will see it’s in their benefit to offer what they can,” she said. “It may not be eight or 12 weeks, but even offering a reduced or flexible work schedule can help families.”

Just over a quarter of private-sector workers have access to paid family leave through their employer as of March 2023, according the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Among the lowest-wage earners, that share drops to 6%.

State paid leave programs run the gamut in terms of what they offer. While Alabama’s new law offers up to eight weeks of leave for all state employees, including teachers, Mississippi’s offers six and does not require public schools to offer paid parental leave to their employees.

Iowa’s new law grants four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child and one week of paid paternity leave. Tennessee’s law, passed in 2023, only offers paid leave to workers in the state’s executive and judicial branches.

But a few states are already expanding their offerings: Last year, Georgia legislators voted to double paid parental leave from three to six weeks.

And some states have gone further than just state employees: 13 states and the District of Columbia have mandated paid family leave for all workers, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Most of those states are located in New England or on the West Coast and all are Democratic-led. Ten more offer voluntary paid family leave statewide that’s provided through private insurance.

Sandwich generation

Experts say the shift in attitude toward family-friendly policies can also be attributed to a generational shift.

“A lot of younger lawmakers are more willing to champion the issue of paid leave,” said Freeland, of A Better Balance. “They’re understanding it because they’re seeing it in their own lives, or seeing friends and family members going through this.”

In South Carolina, Bernstein’s bill faced some opposition from members of the state’s ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus and Family Caucus. Some lawmakers questioned the potential costs of the bill, or criticized it as government overreach.

South Carolina Republican state Rep. Josiah Magnuson, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he believed the bill would be a financial burden on public school districts that could lead to raised taxes.

“You’re saying, let’s tax the people of South Carolina, most of whom don’t get paid parental leave, and give them to state employees who already have six weeks’ paid parental leave,” Magnuson told lawmakers in April before the House voted to pass the bill.

He also said he doesn’t like that the increased paid leave “puts the foot in the door a little more for the government to be involved in the home.”

The opposition frustrated Bernstein, who pointed out that the state’s 2022 law that granted six weeks of paid parental leave passed the legislature almost unanimously. This year’s bill expanding that leave passed the House but hasn’t seen movement in the Senate. It can be picked up again when the legislature returns in January.

Other South Carolina Republicans backed the bill, citing their own families’ experiences following the birth of their children, reported the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

More conservative states are also responding to the needs of “sandwich generation” employees who may be caring for aging parents as well as children, Freeland said.

Earlier this year, Tennessee became the first Southern state to expand its state paid leave policy beyond just parental leave. The state legislature voted almost unanimously to extend its six-week paid leave policy to cover state workers providing end-of-life care to a family member.

“We’re seeing a growing recognition that people need support for these types of family or caregiving needs,” said Freeland, “and that it strengthens the workforce and economy to be able to provide that.”

Stateline reporter Anna Claire Vollers can be reached at avollers@stateline.org.

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.

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Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

The post More GOP states embrace paid parental leave for teachers, public employees appeared first on alabamareflector.com



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article presents a balanced and factual overview of paid parental leave policies gaining bipartisan support in Republican-led states. It highlights contributions from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, referencing conservative concerns about government overreach alongside practical workforce and family benefits. The tone remains neutral, emphasizing legislative developments and social-economic contexts without pushing a partisan agenda. The inclusion of quotes from politicians across the spectrum and explanations of evolving political attitudes reflects a reporting style focused on informing rather than advocating, placing it firmly in the centrist range.

News from the South - Alabama News Feed

US Education Department to unfreeze contested K-12 funds

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alabamareflector.com – Jennifer Shutt – 2025-07-25 14:46:00


The Trump administration announced it will release $6.8 billion in Education Department funds that had been frozen for weeks, delaying payments to K-12 schools nationwide. These funds support migrant education, English-language learning, and other key programs. While $1.3 billion was released mid-July for before- and after-school and summer programs, the remainder stayed stalled until a recent review was completed. The administration will begin disbursing the funds next week. Bipartisan congressional leaders, including Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, praised the decision, emphasizing the importance of these programs for students, families, and local communities.

by Jennifer Shutt, Alabama Reflector
July 25, 2025

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Friday it’ll soon release billions in Education Department funding that has been frozen for weeks, delaying disbursements to K-12 schools throughout the country.

The funding — which goes toward migrant education, English-language learning and other programs — was supposed to go out before July 1, but the administration informed schools just one day before that it was instead holding onto $6.8 billion while staff conducted a review. Members of both parties in Congress objected to the move.

The Education Department released $1.3 billion for before- and after-school programs as well as summer programs in mid-July, but the rest of the funding remained stalled.

Madi Biedermann, a Department of Education spokesperson, wrote in an email to States Newsroom that the White House budget office “has completed its review” of the remaining accounts and “has directed the Department to release all formula funds.”

The administration will begin sending that money to school districts next week, Biedermann wrote.

Appropriators cheer

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, wrote in a statement the “funds are essential to the operation of Maine’s public schools, supporting everything from classroom instruction to adult education.”

“I am pleased that following outreach from my colleagues and me, the Administration has agreed to release these highly-anticipated resources,” Collins wrote. “I will continue working to ensure that education funds are delivered without delay so that schools have adequate time to plan their finances for the upcoming school year, allowing students to arrive back to class this fall to properly-funded schools.”

Collins and nine other Republican senators wrote a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought earlier this month asking him to “faithfully implement” the spending law Congress approved in March.

“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President (Donald) Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” the GOP senators wrote. “This funding goes directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is spent, because as we know, local communities know how to best serve students and families.

“Withholding this funding denies states and communities the opportunity to pursue localized initiatives to support students and their families.”

West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, chairwoman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Education Department, wrote in a statement released Friday she was glad to see the funding unfrozen.

“The programs are ones that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support like after-school and summer programs that provide learning and enrichment opportunities for school aged children, which also enables their parents to work and contribute to local economies, and programs to support adult learners working to gain employment skills, earn workforce certifications, or transition into postsecondary education,” Capito wrote. “That’s why it’s important we continue to protect and support these programs.”

Decision frees $68 million for Alabama schools From Alabama Reflector

Alabama schools receive about $68 million in funds from the money that was supposed to be distributed. The Alabama State Department of Education was notified Friday afternoon that the remaining funding for Migrant Student Education, Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants, English Language Acquisition, and Student Support and Academic Enrichment State Grants would be distributed starting Monday.

“I am ecstatic that our stance for reasonable transparency and consistency in government has won the day. We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Education for maintaining the faith with our students and our schools,” Alabama State Schools Superintendent EricMackey wrote in a statement Friday afternoon. “This is indeed great news to start the new school year! Huge win for state chiefs — from both red and blue and purple states who all worked arm in arm on this common issue important to us all.” — Anna Barrett

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

The post US Education Department to unfreeze contested K-12 funds appeared first on alabamareflector.com



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

This content presents a factual and balanced report on the Trump administration’s temporary freeze and subsequent release of Education Department funds, emphasizing perspectives mainly from Republican lawmakers who support local control of education funding. The focus on comments from Republican senators and framing their position positively gives the article a center-right leaning, as it aligns with conservative values of state and local governance over federal intervention. However, the article avoids partisan language or criticism, maintaining an overall neutral tone with a slight conservative tilt.

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News from the South - Alabama News Feed

WATCH: Sage Park homicide case moves to grand jury

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www.youtube.com – WKRG – 2025-07-24 22:35:53

SUMMARY: Six suspects—Ladarius Moore, Jaquentin Brantley, Mykael Kimbrough, Roderiquez Holifield, a juvenile, and Quinterios Parker—face murder charges in the April 17 shooting death of Frenicka Craig during a basketball game at Sage Park. Authorities allege the incident involved rival gang members with an ongoing feud. At a hearing, a witness described how the suspects approached from opposite sides of the court. Defense attorneys argued the investigation is incomplete, with some clients possibly wrongfully implicated. The DA’s office said at least four suspects had firearms, and under Alabama’s accomplice liability laws, all may be held accountable as investigators determine the shooter.

The courtroom was packed as six suspects charged with murder faced a judge.

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News from the South - Alabama News Feed

USDA in sweeping reorganization to ship some DC workers to 5 regional centers

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alabamareflector.com – Jacob Fischler – 2025-07-24 14:33:00


The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to reduce its workforce in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area from 4,600 to under 2,000 employees, relocating staff to five regional hubs in Raleigh, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Fort Collins, and Salt Lake City. This multi-year reorganization aims to bring USDA closer to farmers and reduce high Washington-area pay costs. Several D.C.-area buildings will be vacated, though USDA will retain key sites like the Whitten and Yates Federal Buildings and the National Agricultural Library. The Forest Service will consolidate primarily in Fort Collins, and the Agriculture Research Service will reduce offices to five hubs. The plan targets streamlined management and greater efficiency.

by Jacob Fischler, Alabama Reflector
July 24, 2025

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to slash its presence in the Washington, D.C., area by sending employees to five regional hubs, Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday.

The department wants to reduce its workforce in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia from 4,600 to less than 2,000 and add workers to regional offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City.

The department will also maintain administrative support locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Minneapolis and agency service centers in St. Louis; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Missoula, Montana, according to a memorandum signed by Rollins.

The effort, which the memo said is expected to take years, will move the USDA geographically closer to its constituents of farmers, ranchers and foresters, Rollins said in a press release.

“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the Department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,” Rollins said.

“President Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country. We will do so through a transparent and common-sense process that preserves USDA’s critical health and public safety services the American public relies on.”

U.S. Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, called the announcement “very exciting news for Hoosiers.”

“Great to see these services move outside of DC and into places like Indiana that feed our nation,” he wrote on X.

Top Ag Democrat critical

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, slammed the plan, saying it would diminish the department’s workforce and that Rollins should have consulted with Congress first before putting it in place.

The move by President Donald Trump’s first administration to move USDA’s Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture out of Washington, D.C., resulted in a “brain drain” in the agencies, as 75% of affected employees quit, Craig said.

“To expect different results for the rest of USDA is foolish and naive,” she said Thursday. “Sadly, farmers will pay the price through a reduction in the quality and quantity of service they already receive from the department.

She called on the committee’s chairman, Pennsylvania Republican Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, to hold a hearing on the issue.

“That the Administration did not consult with Congress on a planned reorganization of this magnitude is unacceptable,” Craig added. “I call on Chairman Thompson to hold a hearing on this issue as soon as possible to get answers. We need to hear from affected stakeholders and know what data and analysis USDA decisionmakers used to plan this reorganization.”

Pay rates

The USDA release also appealed to the plan’s cost efficiencies. By moving workers out of the expensive Washington, D.C. area, the department would avoid the extra pay workers in the region are entitled to, the department said.

Federal workers are eligible for increased pay based on the cost of living in the city in which they’re employed.

Washington has among the highest rates, boosting pay for workers in that region by 33%. Other than Fort Collins, whose workers also earn more than 30% more than their base pay, the other hub cities range from 17% in Salt Lake City to 22% in Raleigh, according to the release.

The plan includes vacating several D.C.-area office buildings that are overdue for large maintenance projects, the department said.

The department plans to retain its presence at the Jamie L. Whitten Federal Building and Yates Building, both in D.C., and the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland.

It will vacate the South Building in D.C., Braddock Place in Alexandria, Virginia, and Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. The George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville will serve as an additional office location during the reorganization, but will also be sold or transferred once the reorganization is complete, the memo said.

Each of USDA’s mission areas will still have a presence in the nation’s capital, according to the release.

But the plan includes consolidating several functions into regional offices in an effort to “eliminate management layers and bureaucracy,” according to the memo.

Forest Service

The U.S. Forest Service, a key USDA agency, will phase out its nine regional offices primarily into a single location in Fort Collins. The agency will retain a small state office in Alaska and an Eastern office in Athens, Georgia, according to the memo.

The Agriculture Research Service will also consolidate from 12 offices to the five regional hubs.

And a series of support functions would be centralized, according to the memo. 

Last updated 3:14 p.m., Jul. 24, 2025

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

The post USDA in sweeping reorganization to ship some DC workers to 5 regional centers appeared first on alabamareflector.com



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

The content reflects a center-right political bias primarily due to its emphasis on government efficiency, cost-saving measures, and decentralization away from Washington, D.C. This aligns with typical center-right priorities of reducing federal government bureaucracy and relocating services closer to local constituencies. The positive quotes from Republican officials and the mention of President Trump reinforce a pro-Republican, pragmatic approach to governance without expressing extreme ideological views.

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