SAFE Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1468 To promote the economic security and safety of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CORREA, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILMER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Mr. POCAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. TORRES of Cali- fornia, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILD, and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Ways and Means, and the Judi- ciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To promote the economic security and safety of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1468 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Security And Financial Empowerment Act of 2019’’ or 5 the ‘‘SAFE Act of 2019’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER GRANTS ON WORKPLACE RESPONSES TO ASSIST SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE Sec. 101. Grant program reauthorization. TITLE II—SAFE LEAVE FOR ADDRESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING Sec. 201. Definitions. Sec. 202. Entitlement to safe leave for addressing domestic violence, dating vio- lence, sexual assault, or stalking. Sec. 203. Existing leave usable for addressing domestic violence, dating vio- lence, sexual assault, or stalking. Sec. 204. Emergency benefits. Sec. 205. Rule of construction. Sec. 206. Regulations. TITLE III—SURVIVORS’ EMPLOYMENT SUSTAINABILITY Sec. 301. Short title. Sec. 302. Prohibited discriminatory acts. Sec. 303. Enforcement. Sec. 304. Regulations. Sec. 305. Attorney’s fees. TITLE IV—ENTITLEMENT TO UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING Sec. 401. Unemployment compensation and training provisions. TITLE V—INSURANCE PROTECTIONS AND SUPPORT FOR SUR- VIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING Subtitle A—Insurance Protections VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1468 IH Sec. 501. Definitions. Sec. 502. Discriminatory acts prohibited. Sec. 503. Insurance protocols for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Sec. 504. Reasons for adverse actions. Sec. 505. Life insurance. Sec. 506. Subrogation without consent prohibited. Sec. 507. Enforcement. Sec. 508. Applicability. Subtitle B—Supporting and Empowering Survivors Sec. 511. Study and reports on barriers to survivors’ economic security access. Sec. 512. Domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking edu- cation and information programs for survivors. Sec. 513. Investing in public health infrastructure to improve support for sur- vivors. Sec. 514. Financial literacy and advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. TITLE VI—SEVERABILITY Sec. 601. Severability. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Over 1 in 3 women experience sexual vio- 3 lence, and 1 in 5 women have survived completed or 4 attempted rape. Such violence has a devastating im- 5 pact on women’s physical and emotional health, fi- 6 nancial security, and ability to maintain their jobs, 7 and thus impacts interstate commerce and economic 8 security. 9 (2) The Office on Violence Against Women of 10 the Department of Justice defines domestic violence 11 as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship 12 that is used by one intimate partner to gain or 13 maintain power and control over another intimate 14 partner. Domestic violence can include physical, sex- 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1468 IH ual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or 1 threats of actions that influence another person. Do- 2 mestic violence includes any behaviors that intimi- 3 date, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, ter- 4 rorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or 5 wound an individual. 6 (3) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 7 vention report that domestic violence or intimate 8 partner violence is a serious public health issue for 9 millions of individuals in the United States. Nearly 10 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men in the United States 11 have suffered sexual violence, physical violence, or 12 stalking by an intimate partner. 13 (4) Homicide is one of the leading causes of 14 death for women on the job. Domestic partners or 15 relatives commit 43 percent of workplace homicides 16 against women. One study found that intimate part- 17 ner violence resulted in 142 homicides among women 18 at work in the United States from 2003 to 2008, a 19 figure which represents 22 percent of the 648 work- 20 place homicides among women during the period. In 21 fact, in 2010, homicides against women at work in- 22 creased by 13 percent despite continuous declines in 23 overall workplace homicides in recent years. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1468 IH (5) Women in the United States are 11 times 1 more likely to be murdered with guns than women 2 in other high-income countries. Female intimate 3 partners are more likely to be murdered with a fire- 4 arm than all other means combined. The presence of 5 a gun in domestic violence situations increases the 6 risk of homicide for women by 500 percent. 7 (6) Violence can have a dramatic impact on the 8 survivor of such violence. Studies indicate that 44 9 percent of surveyed employed adults experienced the 10 effect of domestic violence in the workplace, and 64 11 percent indicated their workplace performance was 12 affected. Another recent survey found that 78 per- 13 cent of offenders used workplace resources to ex- 14 press anger, check up on, pressure, or threaten a 15 survivor of sexual assault, whether occurring in or 16 out of the workplace, can impair an employee’s work 17 performance, require time away from work, and un- 18 dermine the employee’s ability to maintain a job. 19 Nearly 50 percent of sexual assault survivors lose 20 their jobs or are forced to quit in the aftermath of 21 the assaults. 22 (7) In a study commission by the Office on Vio- 23 lence Against Women of the Department of Justice, 24 66 percent of respondents said an abusive partner 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1468 IH had disrupted their ability to complete education or 1 training through tactics such as not allowing them 2 access to money to pay for school, socially isolating 3 the survivor, controlling or monitoring their mobility, 4 using physical or sexual violence, and damaging or 5 destroying personal property. 6 (8) Studies find that 60 percent of single 7 women lack economic security and 81 percent of 8 households with single mothers live in economic inse- 9 curity. Significant barriers survivors confront in- 10 clude housing, transportation, and child care. Nine- 11 ty-two percent of homeless women have experienced 12 domestic violence, and more than 50 percent cite do- 13 mestic violence as the direct cause for homelessness. 14 Survivors are deprived of their autonomy, liberty, 15 and security, and face tremendous threats to their 16 health and safety. 17 (9) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 18 vention report that survivors of severe intimate part- 19 ner violence lose nearly 8,000,000 days of paid work, 20 which is the equivalent of more than 32,000 full- 21 time jobs and almost 5,600,000 days of household 22 productivity each year. Therefore, women dispropor- 23 tionately need time off to care for their health or to 24 find safety solutions, such as obtaining a restraining 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1468 IH order or finding housing, to avoid or prevent further 1 violence. 2 (10) Annual costs of intimate partner violence 3 are estimated over $8,300,000,000. According to the 4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 5 costs of intimate partner violence against women in 6 1995 exceeded an estimated $5,800,000,000. These 7 costs included nearly $4,100,000,000 in the direct 8 costs of medical and mental health care and nearly 9 $1,800,000,000 in the indirect costs of lost produc- 10 tivity. These statistics are generally considered to be 11 underestimated because the costs associated with the 12 criminal justice system are not included. 13 (11) Fifty-five percent of senior executives re- 14 cently surveyed said domestic violence has a harmful 15 effect on their company’s productivity, and more 16 than 70 percent said domestic violence negatively af- 17 fects attendance. Seventy-eight percent of human re- 18 sources professionals consider partner violence a 19 workplace issue. However, more than 70 percent of 20 United States workplaces have no formal program or 21 policy that addresses workplace violence, let alone 22 domestic violence. In fact, only four percent of em- 23 ployers provided training on domestic violence. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1468 IH (12) Studies indicate that one of the best pre- 1 dictors of whether a survivor will be able to stay 2 away from his or her abuser is the degree of his or 3 her economic independence. However, domestic vio- 4 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking 5 often negatively impact a survivor’s ability to main- 6 tain employment. 7 (13) Abusers frequently seek to exert financial 8 control over their partners by actively interfering 9 with their ability to work, including preventing their 10 partners from going to work, harassing their part- 11 ners at work, limiting their partners’ access to cash 12 or transportation, and sabotaging their partners’ 13 child care arrangements. 14 (14) Economic abuse refers to behaviors that 15 control an intimate partner’s ability to acquire, use, 16 and maintain access to, money, credit, ownership of 17 assets, or access to governmental or private financial 18 benefits, including, to defaulting on joint obligations 19 (e.g. school loans, credit card debt, mortgage, or 20 rent). Other forms may include preventing someone 21 from attending school, threatening to or actually ter- 22 minating employment, controlling or withholding ac- 23 cess to cash, checking, or credit accounts, attempts 24 to damage or sabotage an intimate partner’s credit- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1468 IH worthiness, including forcing a survivor to write bad 1 checks, including forcing a survivor to default on 2 payments related to household needs, such as hous- 3 ing, or forcing a survivor into bankruptcy. 4 (15) The Patient Protection and Affordable 5 Care Act (Public Law 111–148), and the amend- 6 ments made by such Act, ensures that most health 7 plans must cover preventive services, including 8 screening and counseling for domestic violence, at no 9 additional cost. In addition, it prohibits insurance 10 companies from discriminating against patients for 11 preexisting conditions, like domestic violence. 12 (16) Yet, more can be done to help survivors. 13 Federal law in effect on the day before the date of 14 enactment of this Act does not explicitly— 15 (A) authorize survivors of domestic vio- 16 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalk- 17 ing to take leave from work to seek legal assist- 18 ance and redress, counseling, or assistance with 19 safety planning activities; 20 (B) address the eligibility of survivors of 21 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as- 22 sault, or stalking for unemployment compensa- 23 tion; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H1468 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1468 IH (C) provide job protection to survivors of 1 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as- 2 sault, or stalking; 3 (D) prohibit insurers and employers who 4 self-insure employee benefits from discrimi- 5 nating against survivors of domestic violence, 6 dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and 7 those who help them in determining eligibility, 8 rates charged, and standards for payment of 9 claims; or 10 (E) prohibit insurers from disclosing infor- 11 mation about abuse and the location of the sur- 12 vivors through insurance databases and other 13 means. 14 (17) October is National Domestic Violence 15 Awareness Month. 16 (18) This Act aims to empower survivors of do- 17 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 18 stalking to be free from violence, hardship, and con- 19 trol, which restrains basic human rights to freedom 20 and safety in the United States. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1468.IH H [Text truncated for display. 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