Good afternoon,

On Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day and honored the women in our lives who work hard to provide for their families. We also must acknowledge the struggles that too many families, and especially mothers, face.

This Mother's Day, more working parents than ever have access to paid leave to care for their newborn babies. Yet in the U.S., one of just seven countries that lacks a national paid maternity leave policy, only 27 percent of workers get paid leave.

Without a federal program, hardworking Americans are forced to take unpaid medical leave or outright leave the workforce to care for family members, losing $22.5 billion every year. Rural workers – who typically work for smaller firms that offer limited or no benefits, are at a significant distance from medical care facilities, and are often in communities with a population significantly older than the rest of the country – are disproportionately impacted.

OCP proposed including a national paid family and medical leave framework, called the FAMLY Plan, in the Farm Bill. Such a policy would improve worker retention for employers, increase productivity, and provide an overall increase in workforce participation – all while contributing to children's healthy development and improving maternal health.

OCP recently supported Senators Angus King and Deb Fischer's Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax Credit Extension and Enhancement Act that would establish a permanent paid family leave tax credit. We look forward to continuing to work with the Paid Family Leave Working Group and members of Congress to establish legislative solutions that ensure workers have job security and economic stability while caring for their loved ones.

Here's what else you need to know this week...

MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AWARENESS MONTH

• For families who have lost mothers, daughters, sisters, and other loved ones – particularly those in Tribal Nations – Mother's Day is a solemn observance that comes during Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) Awareness Month.

• Violence has plagued Native American and Alaska Native communities in the wake of generations of the U.S. government's policies of forced removal, land seizures, and genocide. Today, indigenous women bear the brunt of this violence: more than four in five (84.3 percent) American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women have experienced violence, including murder, rape, and other abuse and violent crime. AI/AN women also make up a significant portion of missing and murdered individuals.

• On May 5, Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day, President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to investigating the disappearances of these women and individuals. The Departments of Justice and of the Interior continue to work to create accountability and bring families closure.

• As we seek to raise awareness of the Indigenous individuals who are missing and the lives lost, we also continue to seek justice and build a safer future for Tribal communities.

RURAL PROGRESS SUMMIT

• If you're looking for solutions to the challenges rural Americans face, OCP's 2024 Rural Progress Summit is where to go. Register for free and join us on Tuesday, June 4 through Thursday, June 6 to hear from OCP board members, state policymakers, and rural stakeholders to discuss paid family leave, childcare, rural health, and more. Tune in to hear Michael Running Wolf and Ian Her Many Horses talk about starting the Lakota AI Code Camp to prepare Native students for tech careers.

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