Jared Make is vice President of A Better Balance, a national nonprofit legal advocacy organization that's worked to pass 14 statewide paid family and medical leave laws, among other protections that support workers in caring for themselves and their loved ones.

Nicole Woo is director of research and economic policy at Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network Speaks, a local nonprofit that advocates for our state’s children and families and coordinates the Paid Leave Hawai‘i coalition. She also spent a decade at a think tank in Washington, D.C., that focused on paid family and medical leave and other policies that support working families.

Jared Make and Nicole Woo writes that Paid family and medical leave is closer to becoming a reality in Hawai‘i with House Bill 755, which proposes a social insurance program funded by small payroll contributions. This initiative is widely supported by voters and aims to benefit both employees and employers without creating a financial burden for the state.

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