WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) joined The Hill for a panel discussion on the future of supporting American families. Alongside Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and The Hill Contributing Editor Kathleen Koch, Boozman discussed his bipartisan More Paid Leave for More Americans Act that would address gaps in access to paid leave by giving states and employers a flexible framework to establish paid leave programs and collaborate on administrative challenges.

On why he is excited about the legislation and its features:

“The world is totally different than it was even a few years ago. Everybody’s working, everybody has to work. There’s a lot of smaller companies that want to [offer paid leave] but they’re overwhelmed by the prospect of going through all the hoops, all the regulation that you have now. And the other part, too, is making it where you have a framework, but it’s flexible. Arkansas is a state that has a lot of elderly in it, so we’re seeing a lot of elder care, that’s more important. And then, as the congresswoman said, the fact that you sort out these interstate problems. You know, so many companies have employees in [multiple] states, and you start trying to figure all that out. So it’s just a good step in the right direction.”

On Arkansas leading on paid leave for teachers and state employees:

“Arkansas is a very conservative state and this has been really appreciated by all. If you polled it, it would be way, way up there. People understand this is desperately needed. There’s only a few states that’ve done this. So by them doing it, and I think Sarah Huckabee Sanders, again, leading that charge is good in the sense that conservatives look at that. And I think that, because they do it, other states will fall in line.”

On employers’ receptiveness to the concept:

“It’s important that, not only does it give the states flexibility, it gives the employers flexibility. That’s what they want. But you have to do these things to compete. A smaller business can’t compete with a bigger business that provides a similar service because of the fact that the bigger business can sometimes do these things, and the small business is frustrated because they just don’t have the ability to get started. That’s what this does. I think most businesses want their employees to be happy, successful, have a good attitude, be able to make things work. And this is one of the things that I think is crucial as we go forward as a society, with the increased demands on everybody. As a whole, I think they’re excited about having the opportunity. For the first time they’ll be able to have a framework. It’s not going to cost them an arm and a leg to get into it.”

On the importance of an incremental approach:

“It’s a three-year pilot. It’s a great step in the right direction. It allows us to look at unintended consequences, and I’m sure there will be some that I’m sure we can fix as we go forward. I got involved with this because of maternal health and because I’m an optometrist. You know, when you look at healthcare bankruptcies, maternal health –– if you have paid leave there’s 50 percent less hospitalizations of the mother, 47 percent less hospitalizations of the child. Having a better workforce, a happier workforce, a more productive workforce –– that’s really what it’s all about.”

On the outlook for the bill:

“We have a bill. It’s not really complicated. We’ve got agreement. We’ll work out our differences. That’s a good recipe to start with, that doesn’t happen very often. The time is right. You can’t fix a problem unless you can measure it. I think this is something we will be able to measure. Paid leave lessens a lot of other problems.”