Machaela Cavanaugh

Cavanaugh describes securing paid family leave for Nebraska workers as her top legislative priority. She introduced Legislative Bill (LB) 311, which would provide up to six weeks of paid leave to care for a relative and up to twelve 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 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 LB709, which would have required a dedicated nursing station be created in 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 station and set up space near the south entrance of the building.[7]