Lawmakers in the state capitol are inching towards action on the issue of paid leave—with Senate Republicans moving their version of a program out of committee earlier this month.

"Establishing a paid family leave program is very important to me,” said Senator Devlin Robinson (R-37), co-sponsor of SB 580. "I continue to work with stakeholders and our caucus to try to find consensus on the bill.”

Paid family leave has passed in 14 states—and some lawmakers in Harrisburg are hoping Pennsylvania could be the 15th.

"The budget season should be the time where not only we're meeting our obligations, but we're sketching out the future for Pennsylvania workers,” said Rep. Dan Miller, co-sponsor of HB 181. "And that should include modernizing how workers can access leave programs.”

House bill 181 and senate bill 580 would provide 20 weeks of pay to a worker in cases of a birth or adoption, serious medical condition for them or a family member, and domestic violence situations.

“If you can't afford to take leave, you don't have leave. It's as simple as that,” said Miller at a press conference this week.

Advocates point to health benefits of leave in these medical or otherwise disruptive life circumstances as one reason to pass the policy.

“I have patients that say, against my medical recommendation, they are going back to work 1-2 weeks after giving birth. I can't believe it when they tell me that,” said Dr. Holly Cummings, the PA chair of the American College of Obstetrician & Gynecology. “One or two weeks after birth, people are still bleeding. People still have pain from their stitches. People are leaking milk from their breasts. It's not a way to work effectively.”

If passed, the program would be funded by pulling 1% of wages from every employee in the state to pour into an insurance program fund.

One significant point of contention between Democrats and Republicans in passing the bill is if that cost should be split between businesses and workers, or just paid by workers.

Right now, 70% of Pennsylvania businesses do NOT offer paid family or medical leave. Those that do offer it are mostly larger corporations— because they can afford it.

Some small businesses in Pennsylvania have thrown support behind the bill.

“I’ve never heard an employer tell me that they don’t want their employees to have access to paid leave,” said Miller, when asked if he has gotten push back from small business advocates. "What I have heard is ‘help me try and remain competitive, help me try to be attractive for my staff to stay at."

Still, other small business advocates remain concerned at the other costs associated with losing an employee for an extended period of time.

“We’re a small organization, we’re only 12 people. So if one or two of my employees were to do that and take 20 weeks off, it will cripple our organization,” said Jeff Wakeen, co founder of Go Big Small Biz. “and people will go elsewhere to do their business. So my fear is it would put me out of business."

Wakeen also expressed concern at the rigidity of a statewide mandate.

“The reality is stuff happens to people, they have circumstances. There are small businesses that can weather that situation. There are those that simply can’t. and then there are those that won’t. Not everybody cares about their employees,” said Wakeen.

"But in the small, small business world- I’m talking under 50 employees, under 20 employees— those are generally business owners that, their employees are their family. and they do care. and they’ll do what they can do,” said Wakeen. "But they have to stay in business. They have to operate and be profitable to be an economic value to their community."

Wakeen suggested that one solutions with more business flexibility would be a state grant for small businesses that want to offer paid leave but cannot afford the loss.

Lawmakers have through budget negotiations to strike a balance while the pressure of money and a deadline is still heavy.

“We’re looking for a way to recognize the smaller businesses that may struggle,” said Miller, “But also know where the majority of workers are, and the human needs are that are unmet."