Bipartisan support is growing for a U.S. House resolution that would change the rules to allow House members to vote remotely while on parental leave.
Spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colorado, House Resolution 23 is receiving national media attention after Pettersen traveled to Washington D.C. with her four-week-old son to cast her vote.
“Unfortunately, Republican leadership denied my ability to vote remotely after giving birth to my son, Sam, but that’s not stopping us from showing up to vote no on this disastrous budget proposal,” Pettersen said on social media, in a February post that quickly went viral.
Some Republicans have joined with Pettersen in supporting the resolution. Currently, it has 158 co-sponsors in the U.S. House: 149 Democrats and 9 Republicans.
U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, is one of those co-sponsors.
“Congress needs to get with the times,” Luna said of the resolution. “No parent should have to choose between caring for their child and fulfilling their duties in Congress to represent their constituents. We will get it done!”
Currently, no proxy voting is allowed on the floor of the House or Senate. This was a Republican response to an expansion in proxy voting over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, which both political sides have acknowledged was abused at times.
It’s time for a change, though, advocates for the resolution argue.
“Historically, it’s been much more wealthy, older men who serve in Congress,” Pettersen said in a recent interview. “This isn’t designed for young families and for young women especially.”
The resolution would change the House rules to permit “parental remote voting by proxy,” which is when a House member designates another representative to vote on their behalf in their absence.
It would allow members who are new parents, both mothers and fathers, to vote by proxy for up to 12 weeks under the House Rules, excluding proxy votes from establishing a quorum.
It would also allow pregnant members to vote by proxy if a pregnancy-related “serious medical condition” prevents travel. Time spent proxy voting pre-birth would count against the 12-week limit for parental leave.
The bill was referred to the U.S. House Rules Committee in January. No date has been set for the resolution to be taken up.
