Pelosi Asks For Paid Family, Medical Leave To Be Included In Spending Bill Hearing After Cut

On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) requested paid family and medical leave to be included in the hearing on the social spending package Democrats are attempting to pass. 

Pelosi sent a letter to House Democratic colleagues, stating, “It had been my intention throughout this process to put on the House Floor and pass a bill that would pass the Senate in the same form.  Because I have been informed by a Senator of opposition to a few of the priorities contained in our bill and because we must have legislation agreed to by the House and the Senate in the final version of the Build Back Better Act that we will send to the President’s desk, we must strive to find common ground in the legislation.”

Notably, Pelosi wrote, “As we are reviewing priorities and at the urging of many Members of the Caucus, I have asked the Ways and Means Committee for its legislation for Paid Family and Medical Leave to be included in this morning’s hearing.”

Pelosi also included further planning in the letter:

We had planned for a Rules Committee hearing on the Build Back Better legislation on Monday, but suggestions for change continued to come in.  This morning, we will present to Rules the amendment which contains some changes.  Members have been asked to further review the legislative text posted six days ago, as well as the amendment that will be released this morning. 

NBC News, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reports the proposal “will include four weeks of paid leave. ”

As the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this week, Biden’s outline for the social spending package that was released last week “[did] not include provisions that would provide access to paid family and sick leave, a core component of a package many Democrats had hoped to tout on the 2022 campaign trail.”

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), a key Democratic vote, had not been in support of including the paid family leave measure in the package, which originally led to the Democrats cutting it from the legislation. The Democrats need all Democratic votes in the Senate to get the bill through.

As The Hill reported, “Biden had initially proposed 12 weeks of paid family leave as part of his sweeping proposal to expand social benefits and climate programs — a provision adopted by House Democrats. But Manchin had balked at the $494 billion price tag, forcing negotiators to consider a