House Panel to Take Up Parental Leave Act

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is scheduled today to consider the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, a measure that would allow federal employees to take up to four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

Federal workers already receive 12 weeks of unpaid leave for such an event and can also use their paid sick leave or vacation time during that period.

The House approved an identical bill during the previous Congress, but the Senate did not take up the measure. Several of the committee's Republican members consider the bill a wasteful government expense amid the national economic slump.

"Responsible American families are cutting costs and dealing with job loss and the destruction of their savings and retirement accounts," Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), the panel's ranking Republican, said in a statement. "It is simply not the right time to ask taxpayers to pay for a new benefit for federal employees."

But Democrats call the bill "a strategic investment" that will provide indirect benefits to taxpayers by reducing turnover costs in government and not have a direct impact on federal spending. The bill's co-sponsors, Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.) and Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), say new benefits would help the government attract and retain younger workers to replace an aging workforce set to retire in droves in the next decade.

Federal employee unions also argue that while their members can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, many cannot afford to do so. The measure would help establish a stronger work-life balance for federal workers, a stated goal of the Obama administration, they said.