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    Sunday, April 28, 2024

    Pelosi maneuvers to include paid leave in economic agenda bill

    WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is seeking to add paid leave back into President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion economic agenda after the provision was left out during negotiations to shrink the bill.

    The proposal House leaders are offering would include paid family and medical leave based on need, an apparent attempt to get the support of West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and other fiscal conservatives concerned about the program’s price tag.

    The leave, according to a person familiar with the discussions, would be four weeks and it would be a permanent program, starting in 2024. Its price tag is around $200 billion, the person said.

    “The Ways and Means Committee crafted a policy that will finally give workers and their families the peace of mind of knowing that when disaster strikes, they can rely on paid leave to avoid total crisis,” Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal said in a statement. “We do this responsibly, fully paying for the means-tested program.”

    Pelosi told House Democrats that she will send to the Rules Committee for a hearing Wednesday an updated a version of Biden’s agenda to allow the House to put the measure on the floor. But Pelosi stops short in a message to Democrats saying when that would happen. The message also says that a senator has informed her of opposition to a few of the items contained in the bill.

    She said the House is seeking to have an analysis done by the Congressional Budget Office, which some moderates have said is a condition for their support.

    Pelosi has set a 2:30 p.m. strategy meeting for House Democrats.

    Manchin and House moderates have demanded more analysis of the bill’s deficit impact before voting on the measure, which includes new spending on climate and social programs.

    “It had been my intention throughout this process to put on the House Floor and pass a bill that would pass the Senate in the same form,” Pelosi said.

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