Support for Proxy Voting in Congress for New Parents

TO: Interested parties

FROM: Grow Progress and Paid Leave for All Action

DATE: April 4, 2025

SUBJECT: Support for Proxy Voting in Congress for New Parents

Test Details

Paid Leave for All Action ran a Rapid Message Test with Grow Progress on April 1, 2025, to understand the effect of messages in support of proxy voting for new parents in Congress and federal legislation to provide permanent paid family and medical leave so that families and businesses have the support they need.

Grow Progress interviewed a nationally representative sample of 3,000 participants. Results were available within 24 hours. The test measured the impact of three messages relative to an unrelated message:

• A quote from Representative Anna Paulina Luna
• A quote from Representative Brittany Pettersen
• A message summarizing Speaker Johnson’s efforts to block the vote

The full text of these messages is included at the end of this memo, along with more details on the test itself. 

Headlines

Hearing even a little bit about Speaker Johnson’s actions to block proxy voting dramatically increases support for allowing new parents in Congress to vote remotely by designating a colleague to vote on their behalf. The messages increase support for proxy voting by 12-14 points and create a swing of up to 23 points toward support.

Support for proxy voting grows regardless of whether people hear a statement from one of the Republican or Democratic cosponsors or a message that specifically mentions Speaker Johnson’s refusal to hold a vote.

Support also grows consistently among nearly all demographic groups, including gender, race, age, income, and ideology, reflecting the measure’s broad, common-sense appeal.

In addition to making people feel more supportive of proxy voting, Speaker Johnson’s refusal to move proxy voting forward also increases overall support for federal legislation to provide paid family and medical leave.

Detailed Findings

The increase in support for proxy voting was consistent across almost all demographic groups, with some notable highlights:

• Initial support among younger people 18-34 was lower than other age groups but increased by +12pp after seeing the Anna Paulina Luna message.
• Support increased by 12-44pp among Latino, Black, and white participants after reading the Anna Paulina Luna message.
• Support increased across party ID and ideology groups, with support among Republicans and Conservatives increasing by 11-13pp depending on which message they saw. 

Reading the message about Speaker Johnson’s refusal to bring proxy voting to the floor increases overall support for federal-paid family and medical leave by four points – a statistically significant change. Learning about Speaker Johnson’s position appears to increase support for federal legislation among some notable subgroups, including Latino participants (+14), Independents (+7), and moderates (+7). 

None of the messages created any backlash regarding support for proxy voting or paid family leave legislation. In a polarized environment, messages that increase support among some groups often decrease support among others. That is not the case here. 

Appendix