The biggest share of comments came from parents, business owners and health care workers.<\/p>\n
But the comments also included dozens of ideas about how to adjust the policy to make it better. And the comments included a number of very personal descriptions from parents and business owners that highlighted the challenge of crafting a policy that takes into account every perspective.<\/p>\n
18 weeks of leave after four weeks of work?<\/p>\n
For example, a number of business owners said they didn\u2019t think it was fair to give 18 weeks of paid leave to an employee who had only worked for them a month. The Family and Medical Leave Act, some noted, kicks in when an employee logs 12 months on a job. They worried that they would have to pay to hire and train an employee who went on leave almost immediately \u2013 which could be especially problematic in jobs with high turnover.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the piece that concerns me most,\u201d according to Krissy Danburg and her husband, of YogaSix South Hills and Wexford. The Danburgs worry they would pay for employees to go on leave and then see those same employees give notice shortly after returning from leave. \u201cAs written, there’s no clawback or repayment mechanism if that happens,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
But some workers believe that longer requirements would hurt parents merely hit by bad luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One commenter said she and her husband both had to switch jobs within the same year and neither were eligible for FMLA leave. Another commenter, Katherine Beers, said she unexpectedly lost her job when her employer went bankrupt, which sent her on a three-month job hunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite finding a supportive new employer, it was one of the most difficult periods of my life,\u201d Beers said. \u201cInstead of being able to solely focus on recovering physically, bonding with my newborn, and adjusting to first-time parenthood, I was navigating job loss, job searches, interviews and the demands of returning to work in a brand new position.”<\/p>\n
Which people are in favor of the policy \u2013 and who is opposed?<\/p>\n
Parents and business owners were the biggest contributors of comments \u2013 with the vast majority of parents supporting it and businesses opposing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I had my daughter 15 years ago I was waiting tables,\u201d said Wendy Kennedy. \u201cI did not receive leave. I was lucky enough to have some jewelry to sell to pay my rent for a month, but ultimately, I went back to work early so that we could afford luxuries like food and electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n
About a quarter of business owners said they would support parental leave if the policy was changed in ways that would decrease or eliminate their share of the burden. Jeff Fecko, of MPF Insurance, said there should be exceptions for small businesses and that the length of the leave should be cut down to 12 weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike larger companies, which often have greater staffing flexibility and financial resources to absorb these costs, small businesses have far less ability to redistribute workloads or cover extended absences,\u201d Fecko said.<\/p>\n
Joanna \u201cJo\u201d Deming of Hope & Action Consulting worked for an organization that was too small for her to qualify for FMLA \u2013 and a small business exception would exclude parents like her. \u201cI had the saving grace of being able to work from home and at times bring my child in person to meetings,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile some people were warm and supportive, others let me know that they \u2018felt bad for my son.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Most commenting business owners who are also parents still don\u2019t like the parental leave policy. \u201cI have two daughters myself and had to figure out how to handle them with zero paid parental leave,\u201d said Matt Marietti, of De Fer Coffee & Tea. \u201cAren’t those benefits typically funded by taxpayers as opposed to this, which is essentially a tax on the principles of small businesses?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not all business leaders oppose paid parental leave. Dolores Dudiak, a vice president of human resources at the investment firm Federated Hermes, wrote in support of the proposal. \u201cSince our founding in 1955,\u201d Dudiak said, \u201cwe have strived to demonstrate those commitments ourselves, as we have grown to employ more than 2,000 people \u2014 most right here in Allegheny County.\u201d<\/p>\n
The vast majority of health care workers \u2014 a major share\u00a0 of commenters \u2014 support the proposal. Celia Emmons, a lactation consultant at Magee Women\u2019s Hospital, said she recently had a patient who couldn\u2019t afford to take FMLA because it was unpaid. \u201cThis mom strongly desires to breastfeed, and meet public health goals of exclusive breastfeeding for six months,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, she\u2019s concerned about balancing pumping and working.\u201d<\/p>\n
All 23 people who identified themselves as both a parent and health care worker support the proposal. Kaitlyn, a nurse at UPMC whose last name was redacted, said she received only two weeks of maternity leave. (UPMC last week extended parental leave to four weeks.) She could have taken six weeks of additional leave with 60% of her pay through short-term disability but said her family needed her full income to pay the mortgage. \u201cI felt guilty as a mother for leaving my child while she was still so little,\u201d she said. \u201cI went into a depression.\u201d<\/p>\n
The handful of parents who said they didn\u2019t support parental leave tended to be either business owners \u2013 or from an older generation. Marie McKinsey said she had her three children in the 1980s. That was a time, she said, when there was little infant care and her family was too old to help. And so she left her full-time job for the first 14 years of parenthood and found a part-time job. \u201cWe sacrificed and spent wisely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Some comments expressed conflicting feelings about the proposal. \u201cAs a woman and the mother of three adult children I realize that my position may be betraying my sisters in childcare,\u201d said Merritt Bailey, a childcare center director. \u201cBut without financial support from the state were this proposal to become law, I fear many centers will close.\u201d<\/p>\n
Too small, too new, too specialized, too constrained, too poor<\/p>\n
Some business owners said their businesses were too small to afford the new benefit. \u201cWe are hoping to continue to grow to get our business to a stable place where we can pay such benefits,\u201d said Nick Lubecki, whose farming business has four employees. \u201cBut if you exempt very small businesses, this will allow us the breathing room to survive to the point where we can thrive and pay these benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe Newman, of Third Space Bakery, said she considers her business a progressive business and wants to offer parental leave at some point but doesn\u2019t see how she can make it work right now.\u00a0 \u201cI truly struggle with this reality, as someone who would love to start a family in the next few years, yet who is constrained by personal finances and the burden of what stepping away from my job even temporarily would mean,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Some organizations say the new policy would mean cutting services. Mark Heinbockel, of Anchorpoint Counseling Ministry, said he had two employees who were pregnant in the first half of 2026. If the new policy was already in place, he said, \u201cTo support these costs, Anchorpoint would have been forced to reduce staff and cut critical mental health care services to neighbors battling anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and other needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some businesses say they will be impacted more than others because it\u2019s much harder to find replacement workers. \u201cYou are asking me to find qualified help \u2014 a registered architect \u2014 who, by sheer magic, has 18 free weeks to help us before moving on to new adventures,\u201d said Bea Spolidoro of Fisher ARCHitecture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.publicsource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/DA_PPLResponses_Morrison-1.jpg\")
Left to right, County Council President Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, members Suzanne Filiaggi, Robert Palmosina, Dan Grzybek, Paul Klein, Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling and Lissa Geiger Shulman look on during a paid parental leave public hearing at Allegheny County Courthouse on Sept. 10, Downtown. (Photo by Danny Arensberg\/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)<\/p>\n
Daniel Hill, of House Call Personal Training, doesn\u2019t see how the math can work for his business. \u201cOur trainers are paid $45 per client session, which is already nearly 50% of the total session price,\u201d he said. \u201cIf an employee is on paid parental leave and another trainer has to cover the same session, labor alone could consume nearly 100% of the revenue from that session.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some businesses said they will only be able to cover the costs if they raise prices. Eric Douglas, of Trinity Christian School, said the school would have to increase tuition. \u201cIn practical terms, this proposal would transfer resources from families \u2014 many of whom are making significant economic sacrifices to afford private education \u2014 to employees who generally have higher household incomes than many of the families we serve,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n
Parents burdened by stress, sickness and abuse\u00a0<\/p>\n
A number of parents said the birthing process is unnecessarily stressful without access to paid parental leave. \u201cWe worry about work, we worry about being \u2018approved\u2019 for time off, we worry about if our pay during leave will still support our homes,\u201d said Ariyana Arnett. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot. I believe the 18 weeks paid parental leave would provide an enormous amount [of] weight off of employees shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some parents said the lack of leave is putting their family\u2019s health at risk. Kelly Moore said her nonprofit offered her only one week of maternity leave and then she had to use all of her paid time off. \u201cThis meant that upon returning to work, I did not have any time available to take off in the event of illness of myself or my baby,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Marcela Souza, a doula who supports families postpartum, said without parental leave some women \u201cended up very dependent on the health insurance and salary of the husband. In many cases, the husband became an unsafe and unreliable person. I’ve seen incredibly capable women end up in shelters or into a long, deep, abusive home situation because of the vulnerability of postpartum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Octavia Liku contributed reporting to this story.<\/p>\n