Gov. Kathy Hochul moved to expand New York's paid family leave law to include siblings on the list of eligible people to care for a family member with a serious illness. 

Meanwhile, as New York's program is being bolstered, Hochul urged Congress to take up a national-level version of the legislation. 

The law signed Monday by Hochul adds siblings to those eligible to take part in the paid family leave program to existing family members that include child, parent, grandparent, spouse or domestic parnter. The measure was sponsored by Sen. Joe Addabbo and Assemblywoman Sandra Galef. 

Hochul called on federal lawmakers to include a paid family leave program in the final version of a major social program spending bill that has been under negotiations over the last several weeks. And she cast the issue as a personal one to her when she was a young mother caring for children and balancing a career in politics. 

"We want to make sure New Yorkers benefits from these progressive ideals here. I feel bad the rest of the nation hasn't caught up with us," Hochul said. "We hope they can find a resolution to this problem in Washington as we speak — New York's paid family leave program took full effect this year, and provides up to 12 weeks of a worker's pay at 67% of their average weekly pay."