RICHMOND, Va. — Both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly voted Tuesday to pass legislation that would create an insurance program for paid family and medical leave. The benefit program would cover up to 12 weeks a year of paid leave for childbirth and adoption, long-term illness or injury, or caring for a family member with a serious illness.

The program, funded through premiums assessed to employers and employees would cover lost income at a rate 80% of individuals’ average weekly wage and not more than 100% statewide average weekly wage.

Both bills passed along party lines in the Democrat-controlled legislature. Gov. Abigail Spanberger has indicated she would sign the legislation.

Republicans remain opposed. Del. Mike Webert, R-Fauquier, said the legislation amounted to a new payroll tax on Virginia workers and would pose financial difficulties for employers.

“Large corporations may be able to absorb new premium costs and administrative burdens, but for small and mid-sized Virginia businesses — 20, 50, 100-employee operations who form the backbone of our local economies — this is not a minor adjustment,” he said as delegates prepared to vote. “It’s a new fixed cost, a new compliance structure, and new uncertainty in workforce planning.”

Webert also criticized the language that defined family members as including “any individual whose close association with a covered individual is the equivalent of a family relationship,” saying the language was ambiguous and would make it difficult for businesses to plan for workers’ taking leave.

Del. Brianna Sewell, the patron of the House bill, responded to the remarks.

“I’m grateful for colleagues who recognize that family is not defined by politics, but by love, responsibility and sacrifice,” said Sewell, D-Prince William, on the House floor. “Today, we have the chance to honor families. We have the chance to honor spouses, parents, guardians, those ‘in loco parentis,’ and the next of kin that step forward in life’s moments that matter most…I know firsthand, that family, both blood and by choice, is the foundation of service, resilience and community.”

The program would not begin paying out benefits until 2029. However, business would be required to start paying into the fund in July 2028. The fiscal impact statement for paid family and medical leave reports requiring $117.1 million in state startup costs over fiscal 2027 and 2028.

The Virginia Employment Commission estimates that total annual benefits would be $963 million in fiscal 2029, increasing to $2.1 billion by fiscal 2031..

Rhena Hicks, co-executive director of the progressive advocacy group Freedom Virginia, said in a statement that the legislation had been nearly a decade in the making.

“This has the opportunity to be one of the most impactful bills for Virginians in the General Assembly session,” she said. “Workers are the backbone of Virginia’s economy, and they should not have to make the impossible choice between caring for themselves or their loved ones and earning their paycheck.”

Derrick Max, president and CEO of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, wrote that there are hidden costs like replacing labor when people are out on leave.

“SB2 is a large, permanent expansion of state-mandated employment benefits, financed through payroll taxes and structured to grow,” he wrote. “This bill is nothing short of a business killer.”

If the legislation is signed into law, Virginia would become the 14th state to offer paid family and medical leave.

Tuesday was the last day for the House and Senate to pass new legislation — for the rest of session, they can only take up bills that have already passed the other chamber. Earlier in the week, both chambers passed legislation that would raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour. The legislature also passed bills that would repeal the existing ban on collective bargaining by public employees.

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