Machaela Cavanaugh

Cavanaugh describes securing paid family leave for Nebraska workers as her top legislative priority. She introduced a bill, Legislative Bill (LB) 311, alongside Sens. Sue Crawford (D-Bellevue) and Matt Hansen (D-Lincoln), which would provide up to 6 weeks of paid leave to care for a relative and up to 12 weeks of paid personal medical leave and paid maternity/paternity leave.[4] The bill would be funded in a manner similar to unemployment insurance, with employers sending a portion of each worker's paycheck to the state to create a fund to pay out benefits to workers who take leave. The maximum benefit would be 66% of the state's average weekly wage.[5] The bill was stalled as a result of opposition from other senators, including Sens. Julie Slama (R-Peru) and Mike Groene (R-North Platte), who were concerned about the bill's cost -- up to $172 million a year according to the Legislative Fiscal Office -- and described the bill as "progressive socialism" at its worst.[5]

Cavanaugh became the first Senator to breastfeed on the Capitol floor.[4] Upon discovering that there were no designated, private spaces for women to breastfeed or pump in the Capitol building, Cavanaugh introduced a bill, LB709, to require a dedicated nursing station be created in the Capitol for senators, staff, and visitors.[6] All fourteen senators in the Nebraska Legislature signed onto the bill. Though the bill languished in the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, the Nebraska Capitol Commission purchased a lactation bstation and set it up near the south entrance to the building.[7]