New baby. Sick parents. Personal illness. Regardless of the circumstances, taking unpaid time off is not an option for many Americans. But some relief may be on the horizon.

Leaders from both sides of the aisle have recently expressed support for some form of a paid family leave program at the federal level. (As President Trump put it in his State of the Union address last week: Nationwide paid family leave would ensure that “every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child.”)

This week in Washington, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, both Democrats, reintroduced the Family Act, which would provide Americans up to 12 weeks of paid leave at 66 percent of their monthly wages. The proposal builds on an existing law, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which offers only unpaid leave.

The benefits in the proposal would apply to every American who works full-time — and potentially even those who are part-time, temporary or self-employed — expanding on the current law, which is estimated to cover about 60 percent of the work force. Among other things, the Family Act considers “family leave” to include birth or adoption, and serious health conditions including those affecting a child, parent, spouse or domestic partner.

Déjà vu?

This is not the first time a paid family leave bill has been presented in Congress. The issue has been dear to Ivanka Trump, who has discussed the prospect with Republican leaders since her father took office. In 2018, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida proposed a plan to provide parental leave benefits through Social Security, but the effort never got off the ground.