Machaela Cavanaugh

Machaela Cavanaugh is an American politician. She is a Democrat, and in 2018 was elected to represent the 6th district in the Nebraska Legislature.

Cavanaugh was born on January 17, 1979 in Washington, D.C.. She is the daughter of former Nebraska State Senator and U.S. Representative John Joseph Cavanaugh III. She attended Marian High School and the University of St. Thomas, 2001; University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology in 2001. She went on to graduate school at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and obtained her Masters in Public Administration (MPA) in 2008.

Nebraska State Legislature

Paid family leave

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. 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.. 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.

Creation of private lactation room in Capitol

Cavanaugh became the first Senator to breastfeed on the Capitol floor. 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. 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..

She and her husband Nick live in Omaha and have 3 children -- two daughters and a son. Her brother, John, an Omaha attorney, is running for the 9th Senate district seat being vacated by retiring Senator Sara Howard.