Nov 15, 2021
Longtime advocates of paid family and medical leave are scrambling to make sure that the long-sought Democratic priority remains in a massive social and environmental spending bill after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revived it. But the outcome will likely come down to the support of one man.
The one Senate Democrat who opposes including paid leave in the spending package is West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate who has used his leverage in the evenly divided chamber to whittle away some of his party’s most ambitious and costly policy proposals.
Through cable TV ads, personal conversations on the Senate floor — even a banner at a West Virginia University football game — Democrats and advocates are pleading with Manchin to support the paid leave proposal in the broader $1.85 trillion legislation. The effort is expected to intensify over the coming days and weeks as the House prepares to pass the massive bill and send it to the Senate.