Legislative Action at a Glance

This week’s legislative activity included state action to provide paid family and medical leave and address federal changes to Medicaid and SNAP.  

• Paid Family and Medical Leave: The Pennsylvania House passed a bill to provide up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and Utah extended state employee paid leave for postpartum recovery, families who adopt a child, and families who foster a child. 

• Medicaid: Legislation to provide assistance to those who may lose coverage under new federal policy changes passed the House in Hawaii. Legislation in Idaho and Kentucky advanced to implement work requirements. 

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

• Minnesota S.F. 4817/H.F. 4692 would allow employees and employers to opt-out of the statewide PFML program. If an employer opts out, their employees can still choose to participate in the program as if they were self-employed. 
• New York S. 2499 would strengthen job protection and anti-discrimination provisions in the state PFML program. This bill passed the Senate. 
• Ohio S.B. 396 would establish a statewide PFML program of up to 14 weeks, with benefits available to families beginning on January 1, 2029.  
• Pennsylvania H.B. 200 would establish a statewide PFML program of up to 12 weeks of paid leave. This bill passed the House. 
• Utah H.B. 329 extends state employee postpartum recovery leave from 3 to 6 weeks, requires certain state employers to provide 6 weeks of paid leave to employees who adopt a child under 6, and creates a separate paid foster leave program of 4 weeks for state employees. This bill was signed by the governor and enacted. 

• Hawaii H.B. 1872 would establish an early learning apprenticeship grant program to provide financial support to early learning providers participating in apprenticeship programs. This bill passed the House. 
• Idaho S.B. 1419 would codify and sunset the child care subsidy program in 2028.
• Maine L.D. 1728 will limit copayments to 7% of family income for families earning up to 85% of the state median income (SMI), reimburse providers based on enrollment, and allow reimbursement rates to exceed private pay rates. The bill was signed by the governor and enacted.  
• New Jersey S. 4014 would establish a tax credit for early educators worth between $500 and $1,500—the credit is higher for educators caring for infants and toddlers.  
• Ohio legislators introduced several bills to address child care. H.B. 787 would extend eligibility for the child care voucher program from 200% of the FPL to 400%. H.B. 782 would establish a program to provide financial assistance to a parent to stay home and care full time for their children under 2 years of age. H.B. 768 would make child care workers eligible for subsidies regardless of income. 

• Rhode Island H.B. 8338 would create a refundable state child tax credit (CTC) of up to $650 per child aged 18 and under, effective tax year 2027. 
• South Carolina H.B. 4216 would cap the nonrefundable state earned income tax credit (EITC) at $200 for all filers effective tax year 2026, among other state income tax changes. This bill was ratified and sent to the governor. 
• Utah H.B. 290 will expand income eligibility for the state CTC by increasing income thresholds, effective tax year 2026. This bill was signed by the governor and enacted. 

• Hawaii H.B. 1546/S.B. 2087 would create a 3-year pilot program to support some individuals who lose Medicaid coverage due to upcoming federal eligibility changes. The program would provide a portable subsidy up to $1,000 per person per year to help cover deductible costs for preventive health services, and it would help individuals enroll in marketplace plans. This bill passed the House. 
• Idaho H. 913 would direct the implementation of the new federal work requirements and enforce a 3-month lookback period for compliance among new applicants. This bill passed the House. 
• Kentucky H.B. 2 would direct the implementation of the new federal work requirements while enforcing a 1-month lookback period among new applicants and requiring current enrollees to demonstrate 3 consecutive months of compliance at redetermination. It would also impose new cost-sharing on some expansion adults and enforce more frequent renewals and eligibility data checks. This bill passed the House. 
• Wisconsin A.B. 1236/S.B. 1106 would have allowed more low-income adults to enroll in BadgerCare Plus, the state's largest Medicaid coverage program, by raising the program's income eligibility limit for some parents and caregivers and extending coverage to more adults without dependent children. These bills died at the end of session. 

• Idaho H. 730 would shorten certification periods for certain households and create rules and restrictions around data-matching, citizenship verification and enforcement, and categorical income eligibility. This bill passed the House. 
• Louisiana S.B. 415 would create a new food assistance program parallel to SNAP, allowing qualified nonprofits to issue donor-funded food purchase cards that can be used for SNAP-eligible foods. 
• Minnesota H.F. 4523/S.F. 4742 and H.F. 4675/S.F. 4719 would all support the state's broader effort to modernize the IT systems used for public benefit eligibility and administration. The bills include investments and upgrades to their systems used for Medicaid and SNAP, including tools to reduce payment errors, improve income verification processes, and move the state toward a simplified 6-month SNAP reporting method. 
• Minnesota S.F. 4645 would add a $20,000 household asset limit to SNAP eligibility determinations. The bill would also require the state to apply work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents at the maximum level allowed under federal law. 

• Pennsylvania H.B. 2189 would establish a phased increase in the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by 2029 (up from $7.25) with the first increase to $11.00 per hour taking effect January 1, 2027, followed by annual cost-of-living adjustments beginning in 2030. This bill passed the House. 
• Wisconsin S.B. 1126 would increase the state minimum wage to $15.00 per hour (up from $7.25) with annual cost-of-living adjustments beginning one year after implementation. The bill would also repeal the preemption law that prevents local governments from setting a higher minimum wage.