Legislative Action at a Glance

This week’s legislative activity included state action to support the child care workforce and to establish statewide PFML. 

• PFML: Virginia enacted a statewide PFML program of up to 12 weeks. 

• Child Care: Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Tennessee all took action on proposals to provide child care subsidies for child care workers. 

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

• Iowa H.F. 2502 would remove the requirement that state employees be eligible for FMLA to take paid parental leave. This bill passed both chambers. 
• Nebraska L.B. 878 would have codified 6 weeks of paid parental leave for state employees into law. This bill was vetoed by the governor. 
• South Carolina H.B. 4611 would extend eligibility for the paid family leave program for state employees to employees who experience a stillbirth. This bill passed the House. 
• Virginia S.B. 2/H.B. 1207 will create a statewide PFML program of up to 12 weeks, beginning in 2028. Both chambers approved of the governor's recommendations, and the bills were enacted. 

• Iowa H.F. 2514 will make early educators eligible for child care subsidies regardless of their income. This bill was signed by the governor and enacted. 
• Kentucky H.B. 6 will require the use of a cost estimation model to set provider reimbursement rates and permanently make child care workers eligible for child care subsidies regardless of income, among other provisions. This bill was enacted. 
• Nebraska L.B. 304 will make the current income eligibility limit for the child care subsidy program permanent—eligibility was previously scheduled to drop from 185% of the federal poverty level (FPL) to 130% in October 2026. This bill was signed by the governor and enacted. 
• Oklahoma H.B. 3320 would permanently make child care workers eligible for child care subsidies if annual household income is at or below $60,000 for a single parent or $120,000 for two parents—the current program is set to sunset in 2028. This bill passed the House.  
• Tennessee S.B. 2062/H.B. 1979 would establish the Promising Futures Fund, a dedicated funding stream for early care and education. The Fund would support a pilot program to provide child care subsidies for child care workers, a cost-share program, and a program to provide child care subsidies for families between 85% of the state median income (SMI) and 150%. These bills passed both chambers. 
• Virginia S.B. 134/H.B. 1208 will establish a child care access calculation to determine funding based on cost, supply, and demand data. These bills were signed by the governor and enacted. 

• Nebraska L.B. 958 will require Medicaid coverage of doula services by January 2029 and create a workgroup to develop an implementation plan by January 2027. This bill was enacted.  

• New Hampshire S.B. 615 would establish a temporary commission to study SNAP use and regulation in the state, including the potential consequences of restricting SNAP purchases and enforcing certain fraud-prevention measures. This bill passed the Senate. 
• Missouri H.B. 2481 would tighten citizenship verification and immigration enforcement practices for SNAP and Medicaid by requiring more documentation, data-checking, and referrals to federal authorities. This bill passed the House. 

• Tennessee S.B. 2153/H.B. 2313 will establish an evidence-based, early childhood mental health home visiting program for children from birth to age 5. This bill was signed by the governor and enacted. 

• North Carolina H. 1017 would direct studies to reevaluate the state’s EI program eligibility criteria and assess the feasibility of scaling services. It would also appropriate funding to increase staffing, provider infrastructure, and other early intervention workforce supports.