Chairwoman Carpenter and Members of the House Committee on Labor and Industrial

do not have access to paid family leave.4 Low-income workers are the least likely to have access to paid family leave, with just 13% of workers in the lowest earnings quartile having access.5 When workers do not have the leave they need, they may defer or forego necessary medical treatment. [...] HB 596 would create a state-administered paid family and medical leave insurance fund that would give workers up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave in a 12-month period. [...] Further, research shows that paid leave increases productivity, decreases employer costs, and increases employee retention, which is especially critical in today’s highly competitive labor market.6 Polling has also shown that prospective employees are more likely to relocate to states with paid family and medical leave programs.7 Establishing a paid family and medical leave insurance program also. [...] Mothers with access to paid family medical leave have decreased rates of postpartum depression, decreased hospitalizations, and increased rates of breastfeeding.9 Paid leave is tied to decreased child and infant mortality as well as decreased hospitalizations due to RSV.10 Fathers in states with paid family leave report feeling more confident in raising their children and are more involved with th. [...] In states that have implemented paid leave policies, 20% fewer women leave their jobs in the first year after welcoming a new child into the family, and up to 50% fewer leave after five years according to a recent study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.12 For women who do not have access to paid leave, the study found that nearly 30% will drop out of the workforce within a year after w.