RICHMOND, Va. β One of the bills that Virginia Democrats are hoping to pass into law during the 2026 Virginia General Assembly session is a bill to create a paid family medical leave program. It's been blocked in previous years but with a change in the Governor's mansion, advocates hope this will be the year.
Under the proposed legislation, the Virginia Employment Commission would create and run a program to provide up to 12 weeks each year of paid leave. That leave could be used for reasons like the birth or adoption of a child, caring for a sick family member, or if the worker has a serious medical condition.
"Everyone deserves the dignity and the ability to care for themselves and their loved ones and hold on to their jobs," Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D - Fairfax) said.
The program would be funded by a payroll tax paid by employers and employees and would cover up to 80% of a person's average weekly wage, but no more than the state average weekly wage.
The bill's sponsor, State Senator Jennifer Boysko, joined with advocates calling for its passage in Virginia and in other states around the country and shared personal stories of why this is needed.
"I can't express how important it is and it was not to have to worry about how I would pay for my bills on top of everything else, and there was a lot of everything," Senior State Policy Strategist at the Economic Policy Institute Jasmine Payne-Patterson said.
"Every family throughout Virginia has one story. Many of us have more than one story, and it's difficult for employees to focus on their work when they know that there's something very serious at home," Boysko said.
The legislation has passed in previous years, but was vetoed by former Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin who said it would hurt job growth in the state.
"That's not making life more affordable for Virginians," Del. Joe McNamara (R - Roanoke) said.
Republican lawmakers say previous fiscal analyses of the program say it could collect $2 billion in taxes a year and say the reasons to grant leave are so broad that many people will maximize their time and lead to it costing even more.
"It's a great example of forcing somebody else to pay for something because you don't want to pay for it or you don't think it's valuable enough to pay for it as a Commonwealth," McNamara said.
Passage seems likely this year with Democrats still in control of both chambers and Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger voicing support for it in her joint address to lawmakers on Monday.
If the bill is approved as written and signed by the Governor, the payroll tax collection would start in 2028 and the program would be usable in 2029.
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