New Parents Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1940 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to make available parental leave benefits to parents following the birth or adoption of a child, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 27, 2019 Mrs. WAGNER (for herself, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. OLSON, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, and Mrs. MILLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to make avail- able parental leave benefits to parents following the birth or adoption of a child, and for other purposes. 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Parents Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS. 6 Title II of the Social Security Act is amended by in- 7 serting after section 218 the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1940 IH ‘‘SEC. 219. PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Every individual— 2 ‘‘(1) who has— 3 ‘‘(A) not less than 8 quarters of coverage, 4 4 of which are credited to calendar quarters 5 during the calendar year preceding the calendar 6 year in which the 1st month of the benefit pe- 7 riod described in subsection (c) occurs; or 8 ‘‘(B) not less than 12 quarters of coverage; 9 and 10 ‘‘(2) who has filed an application for a parental 11 leave benefit with respect to a qualified child of the 12 individual, 13 shall be entitled to a parental leave benefit with respect 14 to such qualified child. 15 ‘‘(b) BENEFIT AMOUNT.—Such individual’s parental 16 leave benefit shall be an amount equal to the product of— 17 ‘‘(1) the number of benefit months (not to ex- 18 ceed 3) selected by the individual in the individual’s 19 application for a parental leave benefit, multiplied by 20 ‘‘(2) an amount equal to the primary insurance 21 amount for the individual that would be determined 22 under section 215 if— 23 ‘‘(A) the individual had attained age 62 in 24 the first month of the individual’s benefit pe- 25 riod; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1940 IH ‘‘(B) the individual had become entitled to 1 an old-age insurance benefit under section 202 2 beginning with such month. 3 For the purposes of the preceding sentence, the elapsed 4 years referred to in section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii) shall not in- 5 clude the year in which the individual’s benefit period be- 6 gins, or any year thereafter. 7 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT OF BENEFIT.— 8 ‘‘(1) SELECTION OF NUMBER OF BENEFIT 9 MONTHS.—In filing an application for a parental 10 leave benefit under this section, an individual shall 11 select the number of months (not to exceed 3) for 12 which the individual will receive a monthly payment 13 under such parental leave benefit (in this section re- 14 ferred to as ‘benefit months’). 15 ‘‘(2) ELECTION OF BENEFIT MONTHS.—Not 16 later than 14 days before the start of any month in 17 the benefit period of an individual entitled to a pa- 18 rental leave benefit, the individual may elect to treat 19 such month as a benefit month. The number of 20 months in such benefit period treated as benefit 21 months shall equal the number selected in the indi- 22 vidual’s benefit application, and the Commissioner 23 may designate any month as a benefit month in any 24 case in which an individual does not elect to treat 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1940 IH a sufficient number of months as benefit months be- 1 fore the end of the benefit period. 2 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF MONTHLY PAYMENT.—The 3 amount of a monthly payment made in any benefit 4 month within a benefit period to an individual enti- 5 tled to a parental leave benefit shall be an amount 6 equal to— 7 ‘‘(A) the amount of the parental leave ben- 8 efit determined for the individual under sub- 9 section (b); divided by 10 ‘‘(B) the number of benefit months se- 11 lected by the individual pursuant to paragraph 12 (1) with respect to such benefit. 13 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF BENEFIT PERIOD.—For 14 purposes of this section, the term ‘benefit period’ 15 means, with respect to an individual entitled to a pa- 16 rental leave benefit with respect to a qualified child, 17 the 1-year period beginning with the month after the 18 month in which the birth or adoption of the qualified 19 child occurs. 20 ‘‘(d) BENEFIT APPLICATION.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall 22 ensure that the application for a parental leave ben- 23 efit— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1940 IH ‘‘(A) includes a notice, clearly written in 1 language that is easily understandable to the 2 reader, explaining that— 3 ‘‘(i) failure to submit such proof or 4 documentation as the Commissioner may 5 require to demonstrate that the applicant 6 is the parent of the qualified child shall be 7 subject to criminal and civil penalties; 8 ‘‘(ii) the full cost to the Trust Funds 9 of any amount received by an individual as 10 a parental leave benefit must be repaid 11 through reductions to old-age insurance 12 benefits payable to the individual in subse- 13 quent months, or by other means; and 14 ‘‘(iii) entitlement to a parental leave 15 benefit has no effect on the determination 16 of an individual’s entitlement to leave 17 under the Family and Medical Leave Act 18 of 1993; and 19 ‘‘(B) requires an attestation by the indi- 20 vidual submitting the application that— 21 ‘‘(i) the individual expects to be the 22 parent of a qualified child throughout the 23 benefit period with respect to such applica- 24 tion; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1940 IH ‘‘(ii) the individual intends to use the 1 benefit to finance spending more time with 2 the qualified child at home and away from 3 employment during the benefit period; and 4 ‘‘(iii) the individual consents to the 5 terms and conditions specified in the notice 6 described in subparagraph (A). 7 ‘‘(2) OPTION TO FILE SIMULTANEOUS APPLICA- 8 TIONS.—The Commissioner of Social Security may 9 establish an option under which an individual may 10 file an application for a parental leave benefit under 11 this section with respect to a qualified child at the 12 same time the individual submits an application for 13 a Social Security account number for such qualified 14 child. 15 ‘‘(3) ONLINE AVAILABILITY.—The Commis- 16 sioner of Social Security shall, as soon as practicable 17 after the date of enactment of this section, permit 18 an individual to apply for a parental leave benefit 19 through an Internet website or other electronic 20 media. 21 ‘‘(e) FRAUD PREVENTION.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of So- 23 cial Security shall establish procedures to ensure the 24 prevention of fraud with respect to applications for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1940 IH parental leave benefits under this section, including 1 procedures for the submission of such proof or docu- 2 mentation as the Commissioner may require to 3 verify the information contained in such an applica- 4 tion. 5 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—In any case in which an 6 individual willfully, knowingly, and with intent to de- 7 ceive the Commissioner of Social Security fails to 8 comply with the procedures established under para- 9 graph (1), the Commissioner may impose on such in- 10 dividual, in addition to any other penalties that may 11 be prescribed by law— 12 ‘‘(A) a civil monetary penalty of not more 13 than $7,500 for each such failure; and 14 ‘‘(B) an assessment, in lieu of any dam- 15 ages sustained by the United States because of 16 such failure, of not more than twice the amount 17 of the cost to the Federal Old-Age and Sur- 18 vivors Insurance Trust Fund of any parental 19 leave benefit paid to the individual. 20 ‘‘(f) BENEFIT REPAYMENT.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is paid 22 a parental leave benefit under this section shall 23 repay the full cost of such benefit to the Federal 24 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1940 IH such amount is determined by the Commissioner) in 1 accordance with this subsection. 2 ‘‘(2) OLD-AGE INSURANCE BENEFIT OFFSET.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 4 paragraph (3), in the case of any individual de- 5 scribed in paragraph (1) who becomes entitled 6 to an old-age insurance benefit, deductions shall 7 be made from each monthly payment of such 8 benefit (not to exceed the first 60 such monthly 9 payments) in such amounts, subject to subpara- 10 graph (B), as the Commissioner of Social Secu- 11 rity shall determine necessary to fully recover 12 the cost to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors 13 Insurance Trust Fund of any parental leave 14 benefit paid to the individual as of the month 15 in which the individual becomes entitled to an 16 old-age insurance benefit. 17 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than the 18 beginning of each calendar year, the Commis- 19 sioner of Social Security shall notify each indi- 20 vidual whose old-age insurance benefits are sub- 21 ject to a deduction under subparagraph (A) 22 during such calendar year of the amount of the 23 deduction that will be applied to each monthly 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1940 IH payment of such benefits during the calendar 1 year. 2 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE INCREASE OF RETIREMENT 3 AGE.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any in- 5 dividual described in paragraph (1) who be- 6 comes entitled to an old-age insurance benefit, 7 such individual may elect, at the time of appli- 8 cation for such benefit, to be subject to a retire- 9 ment age increase in accordance with this para- 10 graph. Such election shall be irrevocable, and 11 an individual who makes such an election shall 12 not be subject to a deduction under paragraph 13 (2) for any month. 14 ‘‘(B) RETIREMENT AGE INCREASE.—Not- 15 withstanding section 216(l)(1), with respect to 16 an individual who makes an election under sub- 17 paragraph (A), the retirement age of such indi- 18 vidual shall be deemed to be— 19 ‘‘(i) the retirement age determined 20 with respect to the individual under such 21 section; plus 22 ‘‘(ii) the additional number of months 23 the Commissioner of Social Security shall 24 determine necessary to result in the full re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1940 IH covery of the cost to the Federal Old-Age 1 and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund of 2 any parental leave benefit paid to the indi- 3 vidual and not yet repaid pursuant to 4 paragraph (2) as of the month in which 5 the individual becomes entitled to an old- 6 age insurance benefit. 7 ‘‘(4) OTHER RECOVERY METHODS.—In any 8 case in which the Commissioner of Social Security 9 determines that the cost to the Federal Old-Age and 10 Survivors Insurance Trust Fund of a parental leave 11 benefit paid to an individual cannot be fully recov- 12 ered pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3)— 13 ‘‘(A) such benefit shall be deemed, upon 14 the making of such determination, to be a pay- 15 ment of more than the correct amount for pur- 16 poses of section 204; and 17 ‘‘(B) the Commissioner may recover such 18 amounts by means of any method available to 19 the Commissioner under such section. 20 ‘‘(5) PROJECTION OF REPAYMENT AMOUNT.— 21 As soon as practicable after the date of enactment 22 of this section, the Commissioner shall establish a 23 system to make available through an Internet 24 website or other electronic media to each individual 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1940 IH who is paid a parental leave benefit under this sec- 1 tion, beginning with the first month beginning after 2 the individual’s benefit period the projected amount 3 of the deduction to be made from each of the first 4 60 monthly payments of old-age insurance benefits 5 under paragraph (2), or if the individual so elects, 6 the additional number of months by which the indi- 7 vidual’s retirement age would be increased under 8 paragraph (3), in order to fully repay the cost to the 9 Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 10 Fund of any parental leave benefit paid to the indi- 11 vidual, and a description of the assumptions used by 12 the Commissioner in making such projection. 13 ‘‘(g) RELATIONSHIP WITH STATE LAW; EMPLOYER 14 BENEFITS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not pre- 16 empt or supersede any provision of State or local 17 law that authorizes a State or political subdivision to 18 provide paid parental or family medical leave bene- 19 fits similar to the benefits provided under this sec- 20 tion. 21 ‘‘(2) GREATER BENEFITS ALLOWED.—Nothing 22 in this Act shall be construed to diminish the obliga- 23 tion of an employer to comply with any contract, col- 24 lective bargaining agreement, or employment benefit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1940 IH program or plan that provides greater benefits for 1 leave or other leave rights to individuals than the 2 benefits for leave or leave rights established under 3 this Act. 4 ‘‘(h) SUNSET.—No application for parental leave ben- 5 efits under this section may be filed in any calendar year 6 if the OASDI trust fund ratio (as defined in section 7 215(i)) for such calendar year or for the year following 8 such calendar year is projected, based on the intermediate 9 projections in the most recent (as of January 1 of such 10 calendar year) annual report issued under section 11 201(c)(2), to be less than 20 percent. 12 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this s [Text truncated for display. 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