Legislative Action at a Glance

This week’s legislative activity included state action to expand state tax credits, establish paid family leave, and support the child care workforce. 

• Tax Credits: Minnesota and New Jersey proposed legislation to expand state earned income tax credits and Connecticut introduced a new state child tax credit.

• Paid Family and Medical Leave: Hawaii’s bill to create a statewide PFML program of up to 12 weeks passed the House.

• Child Care: Maine is advancing a bill to provide subsidies for eligible child care workers.

Our policy analysts monitor legislative activity across these nine policy areas, with weekly updates reflecting where states are taking action. 

• Hawaii H.B. 2360 would create a statewide PFML program of up to 12 weeks of family leave beginning in January 2030. This bill passed the House. 
• Utah H.B. 329 would extend state employee paid postpartum recovery leave from 3 to 6 weeks and provide separate paid adoption and foster leave for state employees, effective July 2026. This bill passed both chambers and was sent to the governor. 

• Arizona H.B. 2239 would create the Child Care Infrastructure Grant Program and Fund to provide expansion grants to programs in rural and underserved communities. This bill passed the House. 
• Idaho S.B. 1374 would increase subsidy eligibility from 130% of the federal poverty level (FPL) to 155% of the FPL and codify the subsidy program in statute.  
• Maine L.D. 2066 would establish a program to provide child care subsidies for child care workers whose children are cared for in their program of employment. 
• New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed S.B. 241, which codifies the state’s child care subsidy program as universal and open to all families, regardless of income.  
• Oklahoma H.B. 3552 would allow child care providers to charge families receiving a subsidy the difference between the subsidy reimbursement rate and the private pay rate. This bill passed the House. 
• Washington H.B. 2689 would maintain the initial income eligibility limit for child care subsidies at 60% of the state median income (SMI) instead of increasing to 70% of the SMI in 2029 and to 85% of the SMI in 2031, as previously planned. This bill passed both chambers.  

• Connecticut S.B. 6 would create a refundable state child tax credit (CTC) of up to $600 per child.  
• Hawaii H.B. 2306 would extend the increased state earned income tax credit (EITC) until tax year 2033. Under current law, the state EITC is set to revert from 40% to 20% of the federal credit in tax year 2028. This bill passed the House. 
• Minnesota H.F. 3954 and H.F. 3955 would increase the refundable state EITC from $1,750 per child to $2,000 per child, effective tax year 2026.
• New Jersey S. 3797 would increase the refundable state EITC from 40% to 45% of the federal credit, and extend eligibility to Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) filers and certain individuals who are married but filing separately. 

• Alabama H.B. 598, also known as the Rural Maternal and Infant Health Equity Act, would require Medicaid and private insurance coverage of doula and midwife services. The bill would also provide funding to local maternal health partnerships for group prenatal care, among other maternal health initiatives. 
• Virginia H.B. 838 would codify Medicaid coverage for doula support at labor and delivery and add coverage for two linkage-to-care incentive payments for doulas providing postpartum and newborn care. This bill passed both chambers. 

• Arizona H.B. 2728 would require monthly and quarterly data matching, prohibit most self-attestation, and direct the state to seek a waiver to limit presumptive eligibility. This bill passed the House. 
• Idaho H. 850 would repeal the state's Medicaid expansion program on or after January 1, 2028.  
• Wyoming S.F. 0106 will tighten Medicaid eligibility and verification processes by enforcing monthly address checks and prohibiting self-attestation for key factors like income, residency, identity, and citizenship or immigration status, effective January 2027. This bill was enacted. 

• Arizona H.B. 2728 would enforce several new monthly and quarterly eligibility evaluations establish a corrective plan to lower the state error rate. The bill also contains a federal waiver request to prohibit the purchase of soda, energy drinks, candy, snack foods, and prepared hot foods with SNAP benefits. This bill passed the House. 
• Georgia H.B. 947 would restrict the state's use of categorical eligibility by barring income or asset limits more generous than the federal baseline, and it would shorten certification periods for some households to four months or less. This bill passed the House. 
• New York A. 9329A/S. 8878A would address expected cuts to SNAP by establishing a refundable, transferable state tax credit to incentivize businesses to donate surplus food to some nonprofit organizations. 
• Wyoming S.F. 0106 will shorten SNAP certification periods for some households to four months or less and will operationalize SNAP's new work requirements, with a provision barring the state from seeking exemption waivers without explicit legislative approval, effective January 2027. This bill was enacted.