House committee backs bill to double paid maternity leave for state employees to 12 weeks

Representative Ariel DeFeay, sponsor of HB 329, told lawmakers Feb. 4 that the bill would extend paid leave for state employees from six weeks to 12 weeks and add explicit protections for nursing parents who pump breast milk in public. “So we are expanding it from 6 weeks to 12 weeks,” DeFeay said during her presentation to the House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee.

The bill would also expand leave categories to cover adoptive and foster placements for young children (defined in the bill as age 6 and younger) and create a one-time $3,000,000 reimbursement pool to help local education agencies and charter schools offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave for teachers and other school employees. The sponsor said the teacher reimbursement pilot would be funded from the state stabilization fund and estimated to cost about $1,000,000 per year over three years.

Emily Bell McCormick of the Policy Project, a co-presenter, described statewide outreach and cited international comparisons: “96% of countries have a nationwide policy providing paid maternity leave with a global average of 29 weeks,” and she noted that the United States has no federal paid-maternity mandate. McCormick said the pilot and the state-employee expansion seek to align Utah policy with health and workforce-retention goals.

Committee members asked detailed questions about the pilot’s design. Rep. Malga pressed why leave for school employees is optional; DeFeay replied that the fiscal note made a statewide, statutory mandate for LEAs fiscally untenable and that the pilot is intended to gather data so lawmakers can evaluate future options. Rep. Hansen asked whether short emergency foster placements would qualify; the sponsor said she would clarify bill language so leave begins when a child is placed in the home, not when the adoption is finalized.

The committee heard nearly a dozen public commenters, including teachers, public‑employee union representatives and nonprofit health advocates, who described personal experiences with insufficient leave and urged passage. Sandy Snowden, a constituent who described multiple family members facing limited paid leave, called HB 329 “pro-family” and asked the committee to support 12 weeks of paid leave.

On committee process, Rep. Fiafia proposed language to ensure the LEA reimbursement window ends unless reauthorized; sponsors agreed to work on a substitute that could include a sunset or explicit reevaluation language. A motion to hold the bill failed, 5–3. A subsequent motion by Rep. Owens to recommend HB 329 favorably to the full House passed 6–2; the committee recorded Representatives Hansen and Shelley voting against the motion.

If enacted, the bill would not change current statutory leave for K–12 employers that choose not to opt into the pilot; the sponsor said state-employee leave extensions would be absorbed within existing departmental budgets and therefore require no new appropriation. The committee indicated willingness to work on clarifying language recommended during floor preparation.

The bill now moves to the full House for further consideration.