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The Oklahoman: Rep. Stephanie Bice backs bills to improve child care, parental leave for military members

May 14, 2021

Rep. Stephanie Bice is cosponsoring two bills aimed at helping military service members provide care for young children.

One bill would increase parental leave and the other would expand and modernize child care options. Both are cosponsored by key Democrats on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

Bice, R-Oklahoma City, whose district includes many service members and workers at Tinker Air Force Base, said active duty military would get the same 12 weeks of parental leave as civilians under the legislation.

“Allowing military families the time to experience those first critical months as a new family is incredibly important, and the flexibility for the secondary caregiver to take their leave in more than one increment is especially helpful to servicemembers who may be deployed,” said Bice, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

The child care bill would allow the military to use money from its operations and maintenance budget to modernize child development centers. Financial aid would be expanded for those service members hiring in-home child care providers, and pilot programs would be established for partnerships with the private sector.

The bills could be offered as part of the annual defense bill, written by the Armed Services committees. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who is sponsoring both bills, leads a subcommittee on military personnel. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, another sponsor, leads the Airland subcommittee in the Senate.

Speier said the parental leave bill “will improve the health of mothers and children, and will make the armed services a more welcoming and supportive place for parents, something all Americans understand and that there is strong support for across party lines. I am proud to introduce this bipartisan bill with my House and Senate colleagues and look forward to getting these provisions included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.”

The parental leave bill would authorize up to 12 weeks of primary caregiver leave, up from the current six weeks. It would authorize up to 12 weeks of secondary caregiver leave, up from two or three weeks, and require the expansion within five years of the bill being enacted.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/05/14/parental-leave-child-care-options-backed-by-oklahoma-rep-stephanie-bice/5072925001/