Gov. Kay Ivey says she will sign parental leave bill for state employees, educators
The Alabama House of Representatives Thursday gave final approval to a bill extending paid parental leave to all state and education employees staring July 1, sending the bill to Gov. Kay Ivey.
The House passed SB 199, sponsored by Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, 94-2 after substituting it for HB 327, sponsored by Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg.
The bill allows women who give birth, have a stillbirth, or a miscarriage after 12 weeks to receive eight weeks of paid leave. It also allows a father to take two weeks of paid leave under those circumstances. If a couple adopts a child under 3 years old, either parent may have eight weeks of leave.
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'I think the impact will be seen in future years, and the effects of it and how it helps families, and helps to support families and enable them to properly bond with their children and have that time at home to take care of their children,' Shaver said after the bill passed.
Figures carried a version of the legislation that only applied to educators last year, but it died in the Senate in the last week of the session.
'This day has really touched my heart,' Figures said in an interview.
Ivey, who called for the legislation in her State of the State address in February, said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that she would sign the bill.
'Thank you to Rep. Ginny Shaver and Sen. Vivian Figures for carrying this important legislation. I look forward to receiving the bill and getting my signature on it,' she wrote.
Under current law, educators are given two weeks of paid leave for 'catastrophic' sick leave, which parents usually take when they have a baby, Shaver said. She also said that catastrophic sick leave should be reserved for unusual circumstances.
'Having a baby is a normal function. The catastrophic leave is for that, catastrophic and for unusual circumstances,' Shaver said in an interview.
Besides the catastrophic sick leave, teachers accrue one sick day per month of employment. Rep. Jim Carns, R-Birmingham, asked Shaver why teachers could not use those sick days as parental leave. He said that if teachers had not used their sick days for years, they would already have time to take off for parental leave.
'That was built for situations like this, in my opinion,' Carns said. 'After three years, you have 30 days.'
Shaver said those sick days could be used when the parent, or child, is sick.
'It takes more than 10 days to recover from having a baby,' Shaver said.
Carns and Rep. Ben Harrison, R-Elkmont, voted against the bill. Harrison said he was worried that the benefit would deter people from working in the private sector. Shaver said the legislation will serve as a recruiting tool for state jobs.
'We are using taxpayer dollars from the private sector to recruit employees away from the private sector to fill these jobs,' Harrison said.
Figures said after the bill passed that she was unaware of the lack of parental leave for state employees until her son, U.S. Congressman Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, told her about it while on the campaign trail. She said women deserve to be represented and advocated for.
'Women populate this world. We are the ones who have to conceive that child,' she said. 'We are the ones who have to carry that child for nine months, unless you have a health issue or whatever. Then when that child comes into this world, it's the mother that that child looks to.'
When Figures carried the legislation last year for educators, it was changed to remove male employees' leave in the case of a miscarriage and stillborn. Former Senate Pro Tem Greg Reed blocked the bill from passage on the 27th legislative day.
Figures said after SB 199 passed the House that she is pleased that the chambers could work together across the aisle to pass legislation for parents.
'It signifies that you can have a bill that means so much to so many people, as well as you can have a bill working with the other party, with someone who's a member of the other party.'
Shaver said parents should not have to stress about financials when starting a family.
'That's our Alabama values, no matter who you are: to support families,' she said.
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