In April 2020, my daughter was diagnosed with cancer. Caring for my medically complex daughter was one of the hardest things I have ever done.
I am thrilled that my home state of Minnesota just approved paid family and medical leave—joining 11 other states and the District of Columbia in offering this program. Signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Tim Walz (D), Minnesota’s new plan recognizes the incredible labor that family caregivers—the vast majority of whom are women—put into caring for their loved ones, often at financial, physical and emotional cost to themselves.
The next step is for Congress to pass federal paid leave and expand access to FMLA.