by Molly Manning
Gov. Abigail Spanberger proposed amendments to legislation that will require the Virginia Employment Commission to create a paid family and medical leave insurance program.
The legislation, which passed out of the General Assembly, would provide employees with guaranteed paid family and medical leave when they cannot work due to health or caregiving obligations.
Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, who introduced SB 2, has been working on the legislation for eight years, though it previously failed under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Boysko said Spanberger said this legislation is one of her top priorities, and it was also a Senate Caucus priority.
“Only a little under half of the Virginia population has the ability to take leave when either, they’re having a baby and needing to bond with it or caring for themselves or a loved one under the most serious situations like cancer or a long-term illness or caring for a loved one at the end of their lives and this insurance program will allow virtually all of the people who work in Virginia have the ability to take care of themselves and the loved ones during these circumstances,” Boysko said.
Boysko pointed to other industrialized countries around the world as well as the 13 other states — and Washington, D.C. — that already have formal policies around paid leave. She said it builds worker retention and can be a recruiting tool as well, “especially for those of us who live in Northern Virginia where we are surrounded by states that have paid family medical leave policies already in place,” she said.
On Tuesday morning, Boysko said she is comfortable with the governor’s amendment proposals and that they are mostly “technical in nature.”
.Sen. @JenniferBoysko is comfortable with the amendments to her paid family medical leave legislation made by the governor. pic.twitter.com/MrKLVfi3Yf
— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) April 14, 2026
The substitute from Spanberger has not been released yet, but in the legislation that advanced to her desk, qualified Virginia employees will be eligible for up to 12 weeks a year for a combination of any of the following types of leave: medical, caregiving, parental, safe (when workers or their loved ones are victim to sexual assault, stalking, harassment or domestic violence) and deployment-related leave for families and loved ones.
Workers and employers would start contributing to premiums April 1, 2028 and begin receiving benefits Dec. 1, 2028. The program would cover employees who earn more than $3,000 — the amount required for unemployment insurance in Virginia — in private and public sectors, government employees and gives self-employed individuals an opt-in option.
Employees can use the benefits from income earned across all qualified employers — if a person has multiple employers or changes jobs, the benefits carry over. Income earned in the “base period,” or the first four of the last five calendar quarters, is used to determine the benefits.
Boysko said the contribution is equivalent to someone earning $50,000 a year, spending about $5 a week on the program.
The leave benefit amount is 80% of the employee’s average weekly net earnings, provided it does not exceed 100% of the statewide average weekly net earnings.
Del. Briana Sewell, D-Prince William, began working on this legislation after working in the district office of late Congressman Gerry Connolly. After hearing the stories of families and mothers in the office trying to make ends meet, she began working at the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, advocating for policies like paid leave.
“I worked on this legislation as a member of that nonprofit and then, once being elected have had the pleasure of carrying the legislation myself ever since,” Sewell said.
Paid family medical leave ensures physicians will not have to consider altering treatment plans due to financial or work constraints for their patients, parents can be with their children while they receive treatment and families can celebrate and recover from births, according to Sewell.
“I’m so excited that so many will be able to benefit from this and I am so grateful to Gov. Spanberger for being such a partner in this fight,” Sewell said. “We’ve had setbacks with the previous administration vetoing this very legislation, but we know that that was all a set up for this moment for us to be able to deliver for what Virginians are asking for and doing so in a way that supports families, businesses, and the economy alike.”