Mississippi women who work in government don’t get a single day of paid time off after giving birth or adopting a child. That’s about to change.
A bill that cleared the Legislature Friday will give six weeks of paid family leave to primary caregivers who are state employees. It now heads to the governor to be signed into law.
“This is a great day for Mississippi,” said Rep. Kevin Felsher, R-Biloxi, author of the bill. “We’re placing the value on mothers and children in a post-Roe vs. Wade society. And it’s time we put our money where our mouths are.”
House Bill 1063 will apply to state employees who adopt or give birth to a child and are the primary caregiver for that child. It applies to employees working for state government agencies but does not include public school teachers.
The bill passed the House unanimously with a vote of 118-0.
The original version of the House bill included eight weeks of paid leave for primary caregivers and two weeks of paid leave for secondary caregivers before it was amended by the Senate.
Felsher said he would consider expanding paid leave provisions in the future after seeing how effective it is.
“I’ve been strong for pro-life and for mothers and children, and also fathers, so I’m all about the family. And so if this is something we can continue discussions on in the future and it’s successful, I would gladly lead the charge on that.”
The policy has garnered wide support from leadership in both chambers. Speaker of the House Jason White and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann have championed it. Attorney General Lynn Fitch has also publicly spoken out in support of it.
Proponents say it acts as a recruitment and retention tool for the public sector, which tends to pay less than the private sector.
“We have trouble retaining workers because our pay sometimes is not as competitive as the private sector, so this is just one more tool to allow us to retain folks,” said Felsher.
Sen. Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, authored a similar bill which has also had overwhelming support this year. For him, the issue was personal – and simple.
“The exhaustion of having a new baby at home, and the joy of doing that – it’s something that you’ll never get back,” England said. “And so for that reason, as a father, it was very important for me to do that.”
England said he was surprised to learn that this policy didn’t already exist.
“We’ve had state employees that have children, and we celebrate with them, and I just had no idea they weren’t getting that time,” he said.
Mississippi will now join 36 other states in offering dedicated paid family leave for state employees, according to A Better Balance, a national nonprofit advocating for better work-life balance.
“The cost of living, the turmoil in the world … you look around and I imagine you do think ‘Wow, is it a great time to be a parent?’ And this should not be one thing that you have to think about, in my opinion,” Felsher said. “If you want to be a parent, we as a state need to be here in that role as an employer and say: ‘We’ll stand behind you being a parent and having a healthy child.’”
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