Just back from American Benefits Council Board meeting in Chicago. More on that later this week. Here are some happenings in the benefits world:

• Let’s hope the PACE Act (which preserves the small employer definition at 50 rather than allowing it to grow to 100 in 2016 and was signed by President Obama last week) is a sign of things to come—bipartisan cooperation to fine tune ACA. Not much impact on large plans but its worth knowing about this one.  (Zenefits)
• But wait, there’s more. Lest we think it’s a big love-fest around improving ACA, take a look at the latest Republican efforts to dismantle parts of the Act. This is a useful look at what Washington, D.C. might look like under a Republican White House and Congress. (HealthAffairsBlog)
• State and local governments continue their march into the paid leave business. The latest is Washington, D.C. with a proposal to give 16 weeks of paid leave to any resident or D.C. employee for family bonding with a new child or major medical issue. This one is paid from a pool managed by the city and funded by a tax on employers.  It would not affect employees of the federal government. (CNN.Money)