Category: News Feeds

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

New parents in Alaska would be eligible for up to 12 weeks of state-paid leave starting in 2030 under a bill approved Saturday by the Alaska House of Representatives.

If signed into law, House Bill 193 would require the state to pay certain working parents up to $524 per week for up to 12 weeks starting in 2030 after a birth or adoption in the state. 

Money for the benefit would come from the state’s existing unemployment insurance fund.

Despite widespread support in the House, the bill on Monday appeared unlikely to pass through the Capitol before the end of the regular legislative session on Wednesday. An initial hearing in the Senate Finance Committee, necessary before a vote in the Senate, was canceled as lawmakers instead devoted their time to a proposed tax break for the planned trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. 

“I cannot stress the importance of creating a paid parental leave program for Alaskans. It is a massive step in the right direction and a tremendous opportunity for our working families in Alaska,” said Rep. Carolyn Hall, D-Anchorage and the bill’s sponsor. 

The bill would also increase the state’s maximum unemployment benefit from $370 to $524 per week starting in 2028 and adjust the figure for inflation afterward. Money from the state’s unemployment tax would also be designated for vocational training.

The bill does not increase the unemployment tax to pay for these changes — fund administrators say the unemployment fund is currently overfunded and can support the changes through at least 2040. 

The Alaska House of Representatives voted 36-4 on Saturday to approve HB 193 and send it to the Senate for consideration. 

A late amendment to HB 193 also would immediately eliminate paid sick leave — installed via a 2024 ballot measure — for many state workers. 

Hall, speaking before the House passed the bill, said “a number of compromises” were needed to pass the bill. 

“A previous version of the bill had up to 26 weeks of paid leave contemplated. And as a conservative measure, that was reduced down to between eight and 12 weeks,” Hall said. “We also reduced the weekly benefit in a previous version of this bill. The weekly benefit was going to be $817 a week. That has now been reduced to $524 a week. And that applies for (unemployment insurance) and for paid parental leave,” Hall said.

Supporters said the bill is necessary to make Alaska an attractive place for young workers and parents to live.

Though the parental benefits envisioned in Alaska are far less than those in other states and other developed countries, legislators said they still represented a step forward.

“​​We’ll never be Norway. … we’re not going to give three years’ salary to both parents so that they can stay with that child and give them the nurturing that they need. But we are going to give this little bit,” said Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage.

If HB 193 is adopted, parental leave would be available to workers who have been at their employer for at least 13 weeks. Seasonal employees would not be eligible. Parents would have to use the leave before their child turns one year old, or within one year of an adoption.

Foster parents would not be eligible for the benefit, and benefits do not stack — if an employer offers something similar or better, the worker could not receive the state benefit.

The number of weeks of parental leave would be subject to the amount of money available in the parental leave fund. The state could offer as few as eight weeks or as many as 12.

Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River voted against the bill, saying the state “would be better served pushing for a voluntary framework: Tax incentives for employers who offer leave or a much narrower and fiscally bounded program, rather than this broad expansion of the state’s payroll tax and benefit apparatus.”

Rep. Rebecca Schwanke, R-Glennallen and another opponent, said she believes the leave plan will burden small businesses.

Rep. Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage, voted in favor of the bill. She said she remembers having to go back to work within three weeks of having a child.

“I cried all the way there and all the way back,” she said. 

“Maybe (the benefits are) not as long as other states’, but I think this is a step in the right direction,” Coulombe said.