Legislative Action at a Glance: Final Issue, 2026

Thank you for following along with us throughout this legislative session. This is our final Legislative Trends newsletter of the year, and in it we summarize trends in 2026 state legislative action that affect infants, toddlers, and their families. This newsletter has highlighted dozens of the 1,000+ bills our state policy analysts tracked this year.

We will continue to track and analyze state action throughout the summer, and all changes will be summarized in our 2026 Roadmap. Stay tuned for the release of the Roadmap and our full 2026 Legislative Round-Up, and visit our Legislative Trends archive to trace how state action evolved this session. 

This session, several states considered – and one enacted – bills to create new statewide PFML insurance programs. Additionally, several states acted to expand paid leave for state employees.

• Georgia H.B. 1118 was enacted to provide an additional three weeks of paid leave for state employees to recover from childbirth, effective October 2026. Currently, state employees can take up to six weeks of paid parental leave following the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
• Louisiana S.B. 157 would extend six weeks of paid parental leave to K-12 public school employees. This bill passed both chambers.
• Pennsylvania H.B. 200 would create a statewide PFML program providing up to 12 weeks of paid leave for parents to bond with a new child. This bill passed the House.
• Tennessee H.B. 957 was enacted to expand coverage for the state employee paid parental leave program to include foster care parents. Beginning January 2027, state employees who foster a child will be eligible for up to six weeks of paid parental leave.
• Virginia H.B. 1207 and S.B. 2 were enacted to create a statewide PFML program providing up to 12 weeks of paid leave for parents to bond with a new child. Families will be able to access the program beginning December 2028.

States remain focused on expanding access to child care subsidies, improving child care affordability, and exploring options for increasing child care funding.

• Kentucky H.B. 6 was enacted to require the use of a cost estimation model to set provider reimbursement rates and to make child care workers permanently eligible for child care subsidies regardless of income.
• Maine L.D. 1728 was enacted to 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.
• New Mexico S.B. 241 was enacted to codify the state’s child care subsidy program as universal and open to all families, regardless of income.
• Tennessee H.B. 1979 was enacted to establish the Promising Futures Fund, a dedicated funding stream for early care and education. The Fund will be used for programs to support the child care workforce and to expand access to low-cost child care.
• Virginia S.B. 134 and H.B. 1208 were enacted to establish a child care access calculation to determine funding based on cost, supply, and demand data. S.B. 3 was enacted to establish a cost-share model in which the state provides matching funds to employers’ contributions for child care on behalf of an employee.
• West Virginia H.B. 4191 was enacted to require the state to use a cost estimation model to set reimbursement rates, pay providers based on enrollment, implement policies to mitigate the subsidy benefits cliff, and increase the tax credit for employers providing child care for employees.

States continue to adjust their tax credits by expanding eligibility, increasing the value of their state earned income tax credits (EITCs), and establishing new state child tax credits (CTCs).

• Colorado H.B. 1223 would create a new refundable tax credit, the Family Affordability Credit, of varying value depending on child age, family income, and annual revenue forecasts. This bill passed both chambers.
• Oregon S.B. 1507 was enacted to increase the value of the state EITC by five percentage points: from 12% to 17% of the federal credit for families with children under age three, and from 9% to 14% for other filers.
• Utah H.B. 290 was enacted to expand income eligibility for the state CTC by increasing the phase-out thresholds from $43,000 to $49,000 for single and head of household filers, and from $54,000 to $61,000 for joint filers.
• Washington S.B. 6346 was enacted to expand income and age eligibility for the state EITC. Beginning in tax year 2029, income eligibility for the credit will be calculated using a state measure of the cost of living, and filers aged 18-24 and 65 and older will be able to claim the credit.

States continue to expand access to doulas by requiring Medicaid coverage of doula services and requiring hospitals to develop policies to allow for doula attendance during delivery. Some states that previously enacted legislation have delayed implementation of Medicaid coverage.

• Mississippi H.B. 1296 would require the state to conduct a study on certification of doulas, including the establishment of a Mississippi-specific doula training program, creation of a statewide doula registry, and possible reimbursement models for doula services.
• Nebraska L.B. 958 was enacted to require Medicaid coverage of doula services in the state by January 2029. The bill also creates a workgroup to develop an implementation plan for the new benefit by January 2027.
• New York S. 8622 would require a study on doula integration in the state’s healthcare facilities and recommend best practices for doula-friendly spaces. This bill passed the Senate.
• Tennessee S.R. 263 urges TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, to add coverage for doula services. The resolution was adopted.
• Vermont H. 611 would delay the effective date for Medicaid coverage of doula services and the establishment of a state community-based perinatal doula certification program from July 2026 to July 2027. This bill passed both chambers.

This session, Medicaid legislation focused on states’ responses to federal Medicaid changes, including work requirements, more frequent eligibility checks, and potential fiscal exposure tied to federal financing changes.

• Wisconsin S.B. 23 was enacted to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months, with implementation expected July 2026. Once this takes effect, 49 states and the District of Columbia will have implemented postpartum Medicaid extension.
• Utah H.B. 471 was enacted to implement Medicaid’s new work requirements by January 2027, with more verification rules than required by federal law. The bill requires certain applicants to document one month of work requirement compliance before enrollment and limits self-attestation for both work requirement compliance and eligibility factors.
• Wyoming S.F. 0106 was enacted to tighten Medicaid eligibility verification, including by prohibiting self-attestation for Medicaid eligibility factors unless expressly required by federal law. The bill also requires monthly checks of residency, multistate enrollment, and death records.
• Hawaii H.B. 1546/S.B. 2087 would establish a three-year Health Coverage Continuity Pilot Program to assist some residents who lose Medicaid coverage due to federal program changes. The bill passed both chambers.

States focused on SNAP policies that affect whether families can get and keep benefits, particularly as new federal changes increase state responsibility for administering SNAP and responding to potential benefit losses.

• Indiana S.B. 1 was enacted to end the state’s use of expanded categorical eligibility for SNAP and prohibit SNAP purchases of candy and soft drinks, among other provisions.
• Wyoming S.F. 0106 was enacted to shorten SNAP recertification periods for households with unstable circumstances. It also limits state agency authority to pursue some work requirement exemptions and expands eligibility verification requirements across SNAP and Medicaid.
• Minnesota S.F. 334 was enacted to invest $90 million over three years to modernize the information technology systems used by counties, state agencies, and Tribal Nations to administer human services programs, including SNAP.
• Hawaii S.B. 3245 would extend the recertification period to 12 months for all SNAP households, with longer minimum periods set for certain older adult and disability households. This bill passed both chambers.
• Connecticut S.B. 401 would require the state to develop a state-funded bridge program for people at risk of losing federal food, health care, and housing assistance. This bill passed the Senate.
• Maine L.D. 2122 would require the state to operate an independent electronic SNAP error rate reduction system, create a SNAP outreach grant program for community-based organizations, and establish a SNAP contingency fund to help continue benefit payments if federal SNAP funding were interrupted.

In considering changes to the state minimum wage, state leaders primarily focused on increasing the minimum wage or eliminating subminimum wages.

• Iowa H.F. 2378 would gradually increase the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00 by July 2028, with annual-cost-of-living adjustments beginning in 2029. The bill would also eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers, requiring that the base wage for tipped workers be the same as the regular minimum wage.
• North Carolina H. 1059 would immediately increase the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00 for large businesses and to $11.00 for small businesses with annual cost-of-living adjustment beginning in 2027.
• Ohio H.B. 225 would eliminate the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities, effective five years after enactment.
• Pennsylvania H.B. 2189 would incrementally increase the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00 by 2029 with annual cost-of-living adjustments beginning the following year. This bill passed the House.
• Virginia H.B. 1 and S.B. 1 were enacted to incrementally increase the state minimum wage to $15.00 by 2028. Annual cost-of-living adjustments will resume in 2029.

This session, home visiting bills varied in scope from increasing outreach to professionals working with families to implementation of a home visiting program.

• New York A. 6029 would include information on home visiting services in the Department of Health’s education and outreach program for educators and health care providers. This bill passed both chambers.
• Tennessee S.B. 2153 was enacted to establish an evidence-based, early childhood mental health home visiting program for children from birth to age five.

This session, Early Intervention (EI) bills focused largely on expanding access to services, including through eligibility changes, service continuity for children transitioning out of Part C, and investments in program capacity.

• Mississippi S.B. 3053 was enacted to appropriate $600k to study the state’s IDEA Part C EI system and related law.
• North Carolina H. 1017 would invest in the state's EI workforce and assess the feasibility of scaling services to 30,000 more children under age three.
• New Jersey A. 2581 would extend eligibility for Part C services to eligible, enrolled children up until the age of six, or until the child is eligible for kindergarten.
• Rhode Island H.B. 7586 would create a more accessible public EI data dashboard and H.B. 7627 would create a "bridge" program to preschool, allowing some children to stay enrolled in Part C services past their third birthday.