Why programs like paid family leave might be getting more Oklahoma Republican support

Banning all abortions in Oklahoma has some Republican lawmakers more receptive to increased support for mothers and families, including some ideas that have long been championed by the political left.

As the new legislative session begins, Oklahoma Republican lawmakers have proposed paid family leave programs, an expansion of Medicaid for new mothers and more cash assistance for expecting mothers, often with the state’s abortion ban referenced as a motivating factor.

“I think with the overturning of Roe v. Wade the time is right to talk more about maternal health and support,” said Sen. Jessica Garvin, a Duncan Republican who has authored a bill to create a paid family leave program. If approved, the measure would allow new parents to be paid for time at home bonding and caring for their newborn.

Last year, when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed federal protections for abortion rights, Oklahoma’s Republican state Legislature and the governor quickly acted to ban the procedure.

The move didn’t create any election vulnerability, as Gov. Kevin Stitt won reelection by a wide margin and Republicans retained their large majorities in the state House and Senate.

But the state’s total ban on abortion did draw bipartisan criticism that Oklahoma had ended a woman’s right to abortion without doing anything else to be “pro-life,” the term adopted by abortion opponents.

More:After banning abortion in Oklahoma, Republican lawmakers come back with exceptions

Stitt responded by creating the Helping Every Life and Parent task force, which recommended an increase in the income cap for Medicaid pregnancy coverage. The task force also suggested extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months.

Several bills have been filed this year seeking to act on the task force’s recommendations.

Sen. Greg Treat, who leads the Republican-controlled Oklahoma Senate, has authored a bill to allow a low-income pregnant person to qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, instead of having to wait for the child to be born.

"There’s been a gap between when they get pregnant to when the child is actually born where they need help and this would get the dollars to them immediately," Treat, R-Oklahoma City, recently told KFOR.

Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, has authored a bill that would offer 12 weeks of paid maternity leave for public school teachers.

Sen. Kristen Thompson, who supports Pugh's bill, said she was shocked to learn teachers do not have paid maternity leave in Oklahoma.

"I can't imagine being in a situation where I am trying to grow my career and also grow my family and being dealt those cards," said Thompson, R-Edmond.

More:With abortion banned, Oklahoma's 'maternal health crisis' grows

Sen. Garvin's bill would allow employers and workers to opt-in

Garvin’s bill would create an optional paid family leave program, allowing an employer and employee to contribute less than 1% of their pay into a state account. After six months of contributing, an employee could be paid most of their salary while taking time off work to care for a newborn child.

In addition to better health outcomes for new mothers and their children, there is an economic benefit, said Gabrielle Jacobi, a child well-being policy analyst with the Oklahoma Policy Institute, who helped Garvin craft the bill.

"We hope that the business community recognizes that investing in children and their parents and caregivers will save them a lot of money in the long term because their employees are healthier, happier, more engaged and coming back to work when those caregiving duties are done," Jacobi said.

Garvin hopes the optional nature of her bill will make lawmakers more receptive.

“I don't want to mandate anyone to do anything that would be detrimental to their business,” Garvin said. “(My bill) gives businesses an option and employees an option if this is something they want to pay into. My vision was almost like a 401K on this, where an employee pays in and the company pays in. I think we really nailed it."

More women in the GOP

Twelve states and Washington, D.C., have some form of a required paid family leave program, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

All but one are governed by a Democratic majority.

Rep. Mickey Dollens, a south Oklahoma City Democrat, said passing a paid family leave program and other efforts to support new mothers have traditionally been a tough sell in Oklahoma's Republican-controlled state Legislature.

"I like to say that in Oklahoma if you are pre-born you are all good, but if you are pre-K, good luck," said Dollens, who filed a bill this year that would put a paid family leave program to a statewide vote.

Dollens said he hopes abortion opponents will become more open to maternal health policies.

"I think (Republicans) have come to the realization that with a total abortion ban, they are now obligated to focus their attention on how to support the caretaker and baby after they are born," Dollens said.

"For so many years it was preventing the abortion and leaving the caretaker and baby high and dry. But now I think there is an emphasis that for these pregnancies we are forcing to term we need to provide more support."

But U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma City, rejects the idea that abortion bans have led to Republicans being more receptive to maternal health programs like paid family leave.

More:Oklahoma lawmaker's bill would require fathers to pay child support for unborn babies

"I think it's the fact that you have more conservative Republican women who have been elected to state and federal offices over the last several years," Bice told The Oklahoman.

Bice is currently co-leading a bipartisan task force exploring a federal paid family leave program, "seeing what is passable, and what we can get across the finish line."

Bice is one of 33 Republican women in the U.S. House, nearly twice as many as in 2018.

"Many of those 33 have young children, and that to me is maybe more of a (factor) in looking at these issues now," Bice said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Paid family leave could be gaining traction months after abortion ban