Washington, D.C., May 21, 2026 — Ashlea Christiansen, senior policy analyst for Voices for Healthy Kids, which staffs the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers (NCIT), joined legislators and paid leave advocates from 25 states in Washington, D.C. to spotlight recent progress and outline the next phase of the movement. At a time of unprecedented momentum for working families, the convening marked a historic surge in paid family and medical leave (PFML) victories and launch a bold, coordinated strategy to secure protections in all 50 states and at the federal level.
Thursday, paid leave partners released the first comprehensive report documenting the number of paid leave wins following the Build Back Better negotiations: dozens of victories at the local, state, and federal levels across 42 states and the District of Columbia. Fourteen states and D.C. have now enacted comprehensive paid leave policies, with additional states continuing to advance legislation and on the cusp of passage.
A Wave of Historic Wins
Momentum has accelerated rapidly in recent months:
- Virginia became the first state in the south to enact paid family and medical leave
- Colorado implemented a first-in-the-nation policy for NICU families
- Maine, Minnesota, and Delaware began delivering benefits under their new programs
- New Jersey enacted a massive expansion of access to job-protection in their program
- Ohio introduced bipartisan legislation in the State Senate
- Pennsylvania passed paid family and medical leave in the State House
A National Imperative
Paid family and medical leave passed in the United States House of Representatives in 2021 – falling a vote short of becoming law. Today, it remains one of the most widely supported policies in the country, motivating and persuading voting blocs across demographics, and is a major election-year issue. This convening marks a pivotal moment: a unified push to transform state-by-state progress into a national guarantee for every worker in America.
###
