- SB258 would allow more state employees to bring their infants to work.
- Rep. Ashlee Matthews shared that bringing her baby to the Capitol actually improved her focus.
- This bill would give working parents more options.
One highlight for many during last year’s Utah legislative session was the baby that would often be present on the House floor.
Joey Matthews was 4 months old when his mom, Rep. Ashlee Matthews, D-West Jordan, began bringing him to the Capitol every day. Matthews said Joey was extremely popular among the other lawmakers and that he made people’s days better.
The representative also said that having her baby with her during the session actually improved her focus as she worked and helped her have more peace of mind.
“I mean, moms are just really good at multitasking anyway,” she laughed.
This session, Sen. Stephanie Pitcher, D-Millcreek, has introduced a bill that would allow more state employees to bring their infants to work with them. SB258 would expand a pilot program that Pitcher started in 2020 when she was in the House.
The original pilot program applied just to employees of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. This new bill would expand the infant at work program to all state offices under the executive branch.
Pitcher said she wanted to support this program because as a mom herself with young kids, she knows how important family issues are in Utah. A lot of families today cannot survive on a single parent income, she said, so this is a way to help accommodate young families in the workplace.
“We are the state with most kids, we’re the youngest state, we’re growing a lot,” Pitcher said. “I thought this was an innovative way to help young families with potential child care challenges, but also allowing new parents to stay in the workforce.”
How bringing infants to work can be beneficial
Matthews didn’t intend to bring Joey with her to the Capitol at first; she originally had arranged for a babysitter. But one week, the babysitter was sick, so Matthews had no other option but to bring him along.
The next week, when she showed up without the baby, people began asking where Joey was and when he would be back.
“So, he came back, just kind of, like, due to popular demand,” Matthews said. “If they’re asking for it, I can’t tell them no, because that’s secretly what I wanted anyway.”
While Joey was up at the Capitol, mom said, he often got passed around between legislators who wanted to hold him during floor time and other meetings. Matthews said House Minority Leader Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, was one who especially loved holding Joey.
Matthews said having Joey with her helped her better focus on her legislative work. She said that when mothers are away from their baby at such a young age, they spend a lot of time worrying.
It took away the stress of planning out what Joey would need with the babysitter, she said, or having to bring extra supplies to pump, and just gave her extra peace of mind.
“It was definitely more convenient,” she said. “It just allowed me to focus more on what I was doing, because my brain wasn’t split, trying to kind of think about what he was doing when I wasn’t there.”
How would the infant at work program work?
After running the pilot program for multiple years, Pitcher said she received really good feedback from the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Overall, it’s been working really well,” Pitcher said. “Now that we’ve run what I believe has been a really successful pilot program, the goal of this bill is to just expand that to other state entities.”
Under SB258, the Infant at Work program would be made a permanent measure. It would now be available to other agencies in the executive branch that decide to opt in to the program.
To be eligible, employees must have been employed for at least 12 consecutive months. The program allows eligible employees to bring infants between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 months.
The sponsor shared that the program applies to both moms and dads. She added that there can be logistical concerns with breastfeeding and other things.
“I just like that it’s an option, and every family chooses to raise the child differently and has different parenting goals and needs,” Pitcher said.
She added that if it works for the family, “then absolutely a dad can bring the child also and take advantage of the program.”
Matthews said bringing a baby to work may not work for everyone. She shared that she would not have been able to bring one of her sons to the Capitol as a baby because he was fussier, cried more and would have been a distraction.
“I think each parent knows their baby, each parent knows their schedule. Some, you know, they’re just giving them the flexibility to be able to make that decision, and if it’s better for them and if it’s better for their baby,” Matthews said.
Overall, Matthews said she thinks the program is a great idea. She also works at UDOT and shared that she hopes the people she works with end up bringing their babies to work.
“I think babies will be happier, parents will be happier and the employers will be happier too,” Matthews said. “I think it will just lift the morale of the whole office.”