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By Elissa Strauss
Last week, New York passed the most generous paid family leave policy in the United States. The new bill is so generous, so glorious, that it will surely inspire hope in residents of other states that their governments might implement something similar. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen.
This isn’t because of party politics or a lack of support, though certainly there’s some of that, too. It’s because of differences in infrastructure from state to state. “ Other states are looking to expand their paid leave coverage, but it’s going to be tricky,” said Jeffrey Hayes, program director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “They’ve got their work cut out for them.”