FAMILY Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1714 To provide paid family and medical leave benefits to certain individuals, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2023 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. FETTERMAN, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. MUR- RAY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHA- HEEN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BENNET, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. SMITH, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide paid family and medical leave benefits to certain individuals, 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 ‘‘Family and Medical 4 Insurance Leave Act’’ or the ‘‘FAMILY Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1714 IS (1) CAREGIVING DAY.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘caregiving 2 day’’ means, with respect to an individual, a 3 calendar day in which the individual engaged in 4 qualified caregiving. 5 (B) LIMITATIONS.—An individual may not 6 exceed— 7 (i) with respect to any month, 20 8 caregiving days; or 9 (ii) with respect to any benefit period, 10 60 caregiving days. 11 (2) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis- 12 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Social Security. 13 (3) DEPUTY COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Dep- 14 uty Commissioner’’ means the Deputy Commissioner 15 who heads the Office of Paid Family and Medical 16 Leave established under section 3(a). 17 (4) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 18 individual’’ means an individual who is entitled to a 19 benefit under section 4 for a particular month, upon 20 filing an application for such benefit for such month. 21 (5) QUALIFIED CAREGIVING.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified 23 caregiving’’ means any activity engaged in by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1714 IS an individual, other than regular employment, 1 for a qualifying reason. 2 (B) QUALIFYING REASON.— 3 (i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 4 subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘qualifying 5 reason’’ means any of the following rea- 6 sons for taking leave: 7 (I) Any reason for which an eligi- 8 ble employee would be entitled to 9 leave under subparagraph (A), (B), or 10 (E) of paragraph (1) of section 102(a) 11 of the Family and Medical Leave Act 12 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)). 13 (II) In order to care for a quali- 14 fied family member of the individual, 15 if such qualified family member has a 16 serious health condition. 17 (III) Because of a serious health 18 condition that makes the individual 19 unable to perform the services re- 20 quired under the terms of their reg- 21 ular employment. 22 (IV) In order to, as a result of 23 domestic violence, sexual assault, or 24 stalking— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1714 IS (aa) seek medical attention 1 for the employee or the employ- 2 ee’s child, parent, spouse, domes- 3 tic partner, or any other indi- 4 vidual related by blood or affinity 5 whose close association with the 6 employee is the equivalent of a 7 family relationship, to recover 8 from physical or psychological in- 9 jury or disability caused by do- 10 mestic violence, sexual assault, or 11 stalking; 12 (bb) obtain or assist a re- 13 lated person described in item 14 (aa) in obtaining services from a 15 victim services organization; 16 (cc) obtain or assist a re- 17 lated person described in item 18 (aa) in obtaining psychological or 19 other counseling; 20 (dd) seek relocation; or 21 (ee) take legal action, in- 22 cluding preparing for or partici- 23 pating in any civil or criminal 24 legal proceeding related to or re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1714 IS sulting from domestic violence, 1 sexual assault, or stalking. 2 (ii) QUALIFIED FAMILY MEMBER; SE- 3 RIOUS HEALTH CONDITION.—In this sub- 4 paragraph: 5 (I) QUALIFIED FAMILY MEM- 6 BER.—The term ‘‘qualified family 7 member’’ means, which respect to an 8 individual— 9 (aa) a spouse (including a 10 domestic partner in a civil union 11 or other registered domestic part- 12 nership recognized by a State) or 13 a parent of such spouse; 14 (bb) a child (regardless of 15 age) or a child’s spouse; 16 (cc) a parent or a parent’s 17 spouse; 18 (dd) a sibling or a sibling’s 19 spouse; 20 (ee) a grandparent, a grand- 21 child, or a spouse of a grand- 22 parent or grandchild; and 23 (ff) any other individual who 24 is related by blood or affinity and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1714 IS whose association with the em- 1 ployee is equivalent of a family 2 relationship. 3 (II) SERIOUS HEALTH CONDI- 4 TION.—The term ‘‘serious health con- 5 dition’’ has the meaning given such 6 term in section 101(11) of the Family 7 and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 8 U.S.C. 2611(11)). 9 (iii) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For pur- 10 poses of clause (i)(IV): 11 (I) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ 12 means, regardless of age, a biological, 13 foster, or adopted child, a stepchild, a 14 child of a domestic partner, a legal 15 ward, or a child of a person standing 16 in loco parentis. 17 (II) DOMESTIC PARTNER.— 18 (aa) IN GENERAL.—The 19 term ‘‘domestic partner’’, with 20 respect to an individual, means 21 another individual with whom the 22 individual is in a committed rela- 23 tionship. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1714 IS (bb) COMMITTED RELATION- 1 SHIP DEFINED.—The term ‘‘com- 2 mitted relationship’’ means a re- 3 lationship between 2 individuals, 4 each at least 18 years of age, in 5 which each individual is the other 6 individual’s sole domestic partner 7 and both individuals share re- 8 sponsibility for a significant 9 measure of each other’s common 10 welfare. The term includes any 11 such relationship between 2 indi- 12 viduals, including individuals of 13 the same sex, that is granted 14 legal recognition by a State or 15 political subdivision of a State as 16 a marriage or analogous relation- 17 ship, including a civil union or 18 domestic partnership. 19 (III) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The 20 term ‘‘domestic violence’’ has the 21 meaning given the term in section 22 40002(a) of the Violence Against 23 Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 24 12291(a)), except that the reference 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1714 IS in such section to the term ‘‘jurisdic- 1 tion receiving grant monies’’ shall be 2 deemed to mean the jurisdiction in 3 which the victim lives or the jurisdic- 4 tion in which the employer involved is 5 located. Such term also includes ‘‘dat- 6 ing violence’’, as that term is defined 7 in such section. 8 (IV) PARENT.—The term ‘‘par- 9 ent’’ means a biological, foster, or 10 adoptive parent of an employee, a 11 stepparent of an employee, parent-in- 12 law, parent of a domestic partner, or 13 a legal guardian or other person who 14 stood in loco parentis to an employee 15 when the employee was a child. 16 (V) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The 17 term ‘‘sexual assault’’ has the mean- 18 ing given the term in section 40002(a) 19 of the Violence Against Women Act of 20 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)). 21 (VI) SPOUSE.—The term 22 ‘‘spouse’’, with respect to an em- 23 ployee, has the meaning given such 24 term by the marriage laws of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1714 IS State in which the marriage was cele- 1 brated. 2 (VII) STALKING.—The term 3 ‘‘stalking’’ has the meaning given the 4 term in section 40002(a) of the Vio- 5 lence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 6 U.S.C. 12291(a)). 7 (VIII) VICTIM SERVICES ORGANI- 8 ZATION.—The term ‘‘victim services 9 organization’’ means a nonprofit, non- 10 governmental organization that pro- 11 vides assistance to victims of domestic 12 violence, sexual assault, or stalking or 13 advocates for such victims, including a 14 rape crisis center, an organization 15 carrying out a domestic violence, sex- 16 ual assault, or stalking prevention or 17 treatment program, an organization 18 operating a shelter or providing coun- 19 seling services, or a legal services or- 20 ganization or other organization pro- 21 viding assistance through the legal 22 process. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1714 IS (C) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS COV- 1 ERED BY LEGACY STATE COMPREHENSIVE PAID 2 LEAVE PROGRAM.— 3 (i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 4 subparagraph (A), an activity engaged in 5 by an individual shall not be considered as 6 other than regular employment if, for the 7 time during which the individual was so 8 engaged, the individual is taking leave 9 from covered employment under the law of 10 a legacy State (as defined in section 4(c)). 11 (ii) UNEMPLOYED.—In the case of an 12 individual who is no longer employed, such 13 individual shall be treated, for purposes of 14 clause (i), as taking leave from covered 15 employment under the law of a legacy 16 State (as so defined) with respect to the 17 portion of the time during which the indi- 18 vidual was engaged in an activity for a 19 qualifying reason corresponding to the 20 share of the individual’s workweek that 21 was in covered employment under the law 22 of a legacy State (as so defined). 23 (6) NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE INDEX.—The 24 term ‘‘national average wage index’’ has the mean- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1714 IS ing given such term in section 209(k)(1) of the So- 1 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)). 2 (7) SELF-EMPLOYMENT INCOME.—The term 3 ‘‘self-employment income’’ has the same meaning as 4 such term in section 211(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5 411(b)). 6 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 7 State of the United States or the District of Colum- 8 bia or any territory or possession of the United 9 States. 10 (9) WAGES.—The term ‘‘wages’’ has the mean- 11 ing given such term in section 3121(a) of the Inter- 12 nal Revenue Code of 1986 for purposes of the taxes 13 imposed by sections 3101(b) and 3111(b) of such 14 Code (without regard to section 3121(u)(2)(C) of 15 such Code), except that such term also includes— 16 (A) compensation, as defined in section 17 3231(e) of such Code for purposes of the Rail- 18 road Retirement Tax Act; and 19 (B) unemployment compensation, as de- 20 fined in section 85(b) of such Code. 21 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE. 22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—There is estab- 23 lished within the Social Security Administration an office 24 to be known as the Office of Paid Family and Medical 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1714 IS Leave. The Office shall be headed by a Deputy Commis- 1 sioner who shall be appointed by the Commissioner. 2 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEPUTY COMMIS- 3 SIONER.—The Commissioner, acting through the Deputy 4 Commissioner, shall be responsible for— 5 (1) hiring personnel and making employment 6 decisions with regard to such personnel; 7 (2) issuing such regulations as may be nec- 8 essary to carry out the purposes of this Act; 9 (3) entering into cooperative agreements with 10 other agencies and departments to ensure the effi- 11 ciency of the administration of the program; 12 (4) determining eligibility for family and med- 13 ical leave insurance benefits under section 4; 14 (5) determining benefit amounts for each 15 month of such eligibility and making timely pay- 16 ments of such benefits to entitled individuals in ac- 17 cordance with such section; 18 (6) establishing and maintaining a system of 19 records relating to the administration of such sec- 20 tion; 21 (7) preventing fraud and abuse relating to such 22 benefits; 23 (8) providing information on request regarding 24 eligibility requirements, the claims process, benefit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1714 IS amounts, maximum benefits payable, notice require- 1 ments, nondiscrimination rights, confidentiality, co- 2 ordination of leave under this Act and other laws, 3 collective bargaining agreements, and employer poli- 4 cies; 5 (9) annually providing employers a notice in- 6 forming employees of the availability of such bene- 7 fits; 8 (10) annually making available to the public a 9 report that includes the number of individuals who 10 received such benefits, the purposes for which such 11 benefits were received, and an analysis of utilization 12 rates of such benefits by gender, race, ethnicity, and 13 income levels; and 14 (11) tailoring culturally and linguistically com- 15 petent education and outreach toward increasing uti- 16 lization rates of benefits under such section. 17 (c) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Notwithstanding any 18 other provision of law, the Commissioner shall make avail- 19 able to the Deputy Commissioner such data as the Com- 20 missioner determines necessary to enable the Deputy 21 Commissioner to effectively carry out the responsibilities 22 described in subsection (b). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 14 •S 1714 IS SEC. 4. FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE INSURANCE BENEFIT 1 PAYMENTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.— 3 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Every individual who— 4 (A) has filed an application for a [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]