{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=A2055736-C1EB-4D1D-848E-6ACAA10F5F3C", "ICYMI: Boozman Touts Paid Leave Legislation on The Hill\u2019s Future of Supporting American Families Panel", "2026-09-28", "2026", "2026-09", null, null, null, null, null, "www.boozman.senate.gov", "boozman", "https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) joined The Hill for a panel discussion on the future of supporting American families. Alongside Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and The Hill Contributing Editor Kathleen Koch, Boozman discussed his bipartisan More Paid Leave for More Americans Act that would address gaps in access to paid leave by giving states and employers a flexible framework to establish paid leave programs and collaborate on administrative challenges.\n\nOn why he is excited about the legislation and its features:\n\n\u201cThe world is totally different than it was even a few years ago. Everybody\u2019s working, everybody has to work. There\u2019s a lot of smaller companies that want to [offer paid leave] but they\u2019re overwhelmed by the prospect of going through all the hoops, all the regulation that you have now. And the other part, too, is making it where you have a framework, but it\u2019s flexible. Arkansas is a state that has a lot of elderly in it, so we\u2019re seeing a lot of elder care, that\u2019s more important. And then, as the congresswoman said, the fact that you sort out these interstate problems. You know, so many companies have employees in [multiple] states, and you start trying to figure all that out. So it\u2019s just a good step in the right direction.\u201d\n\nOn Arkansas leading on paid leave for teachers and state employees:\n\n\u201cArkansas is a very conservative state and this has been really appreciated by all. If you polled it, it would be way, way up there. People understand this is desperately needed. There\u2019s only a few states that\u2019ve done this. So by them doing it, and I think Sarah Huckabee Sanders, again, leading that charge is good in the sense that conservatives look at that. And I think that, because they do it, other states will fall in line.\u201d\n\nOn employers\u2019 receptiveness to the concept:\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s important that, not only does it give the states flexibility, it gives the employers flexibility. That\u2019s what they want. But you have to do these things to compete. A smaller business can\u2019t compete with a bigger business that provides a similar service because of the fact that the bigger business can sometimes do these things, and the small business is frustrated because they just don\u2019t have the ability to get started. That\u2019s what this does. I think most businesses want their employees to be happy, successful, have a good attitude, be able to make things work. And this is one of the things that I think is crucial as we go forward as a society, with the increased demands on everybody. As a whole, I think they\u2019re excited about having the opportunity. For the first time they\u2019ll be able to have a framework. It\u2019s not going to cost them an arm and a leg to get into it.\u201d\n\nOn the importance of an incremental approach:\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a three-year pilot. It\u2019s a great step in the right direction. It allows us to look at unintended consequences, and I\u2019m sure there will be some that I\u2019m sure we can fix as we go forward. I got involved with this because of maternal health and because I\u2019m an optometrist. You know, when you look at healthcare bankruptcies, maternal health \u2013\u2013 if you have paid leave there\u2019s 50 percent less hospitalizations of the mother, 47 percent less hospitalizations of the child. Having a better workforce, a happier workforce, a more productive workforce \u2013\u2013 that\u2019s really what it\u2019s all about.\u201d\n\nOn the outlook for the bill:\n\n\u201cWe have a bill. It\u2019s not really complicated. We\u2019ve got agreement. We\u2019ll work out our differences. That\u2019s a good recipe to start with, that doesn\u2019t happen very often. The time is right. You can\u2019t fix a problem unless you can measure it. I think this is something we will be able to measure. Paid leave lessens a lot of other problems.\u201d", 1, "2026-09-29T11:07:12Z", "2026-09-29T11:08:49Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=A2055736-C1EB-4D1D-848E-6ACAA10F5F3C"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5236020553857088, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}