INDIANAPOLIS -- Family advocates expressed disappointment Thursday when the Indiana General Assembly’s Legislative Council announced topics lawmakers plan to study this summer, and paid family leave was not on the list.
“This is a slap in the face of working Hoosiers and their loved ones,” said Erin Macey, policy analyst with the Indiana Institute for Working Families. “The Legislative Council has just declared that is not even willing to consider ways to expand access to paid family and medical leave or make it more affordable for businesses – even though a bipartisan bill calling for the study passed and was signed by the Governor.”
Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 253, which allows the Indiana Commission for Women to launch a $200,000 study into paid family leave.
Macey said an advisory panel of community members, businesses, and research organizations would study paid family leave in Indiana, and results would be available later this year.
However, Thursday’s announcement means state lawmakers won’t study the findings this summer, or other issues related to paid family leave.
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“The Institute for Working Families will continue to fight to make paid family and medical leave a reality for the many Hoosiers who do not currently have access to this critical support,” said Macey.
With no state requirement in place in Indiana, some employers, like Indiana University, are already taking steps to provide paid parental leave for their workers.
“We think there needs to be a long-term strategy for how to give people the quality of life they deserve and we think paid family and medical leave is one of those,” said Zody.
