A bipartisan group of House members will propose a measure on Thursday that would allow new parents to vote via proxy.
Reps. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) are the leaders of the effort.
Note: This isn’t a privileged resolution, so there’s no mechanism for the members to force the vote.
Last Congress, Luna tried to secure a commitment from Speaker Mike Johnson to schedule a vote on her proposal to extend proxy voting privileges to new mothers. But Johnson never agreed to Luna’s demands and the push went nowhere.
The House instituted proxy voting during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the policy was widely abused by members, and when Republicans won back the House, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy banned proxy voting in early 2023.
The issue is personal for these members: Pettersen is due to give birth in the coming months and Luna gave birth last year.
