Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat, has introduced a bill that would create a universal paid family and medical leave program in Maine.Under the proposal, employees who have paid into a state fund could be granted up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and 20 weeks of paid medical leave.
A bipartisan proposal last year to create a paid family medical leave program was amended to call for a study on the costs and benefits of a program first. That bill was vetoed by then-Gov. Paul LePage.
