Adoption; leave benefit.

Creates a new program of parental leave benefits for full-time state employees with one or more years of continuous employment with the Commonwealth who (i) adopt an infant under one year of age or (ii) are the natural father of an infant under one year of age. The amount of leave would be equivalent to the amount of paid leave awarded to an employee pursuant to short-term disability for maternity leave. The bill specifies that the parental leave coverage shall apply only to eligible state employees who take custody of an infant in the course of an adoption on or after July 1, 2018, or, for a natural father, for an infant born on or after July 1, 2018. The Department of Human Resource Management is directed to develop guidelines and policies for implementing the parental leave benefits. The bill also directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to analyze parental leave benefits for state employees in other states and the costs of providing such benefits to the employees of the Commonwealth. The bill has a reenactment clause that applies to all provisions of the bill except the JLARC study, which is effective July 1, 2017.