Pueblo County is providing its employees what the Colorado legislature has not providing for other working parents across the state, paid parental leave. The issue is an annual partisan football, and the last two sessions lawmakers couldn’t agree on a few hours of unpaid leave to attend school activities pushed by Democrats.

Most legislative Republicans say such leave should be granted by employers on a case-by-case basis, rather than be dictated by the government.

Last week, however, Pueblo County commissioners unanimously passed a policy that grants up to four weeks off with pay within a four-month span for new parents, via birth, adoption or foster-care placement. The policy also applies to fathers and same-sex couples, as well as extended family tasked with caring for newborns.

Boulder County has a similar policy that took effect last year for mothers, fathers and adoptive parents.

“While starting a family most frequently affects the younger generations, social issues are affecting older generations, making grandparents, aunts and uncles the primary care giver for young children,” Pueblo County Commissioner Garrison Ortiz said in a statement.

Federal law allows up to 12 weeks, but without pay. Ortiz said some county employees don’t earn enough for that to be an option.

“This policy does not have a financial price tag, but more importantly the time spent at home forming a new bond with a child is priceless,” Ortiz said.

Last year the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated 14 percent of all workers and 22 percent of management nationwide were guaranteed paid family leave.

To circle back to politics, Pueblo County has long been a Democratic stronghold, but the majority of county voters supported Donald Trump last November. Ortiz and fellow commissioners Terry Hart and Sal Pace are Democrats. Pace is the former House Democratic leader.

In 2016, Reps. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood and Faith Winter of Westminster, with Sens. Kerry Donovan of Vail and Nancy Todd of Aurora sponsored the Colorado Family First Employer Act to give a state-granted designation to employers with family-friendly policies, including two weeks of paid leave to new parents.

The bill passed the House on the 36-29, picking up two Republican voters, then-Reps. Kathleen Conti of Littleton and Kevin Priola of Henderson. The bill died on a party-line vote in its first committee hearing in the Republican Senate.