Senators Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) have teamed up to introduce the fourth paid-parental-leave plan on offer this Congress, and the first bipartisan proposal of its kind. Their bill would allow new parents to obtain an advance on their child tax credit (CTC) to help with the cost during the first year of having a child.

Conservatives have long opposed the idea of government involvement in the provision of paid-leave benefits, recognizing its tremendous downsides, but the approach taken by Lee and Ernst avoids those downsides: It simply reforms an existing entitlement program so that people have greater flexibility and control over when they can access benefits.