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 available parental leave benefits to parents following the birth 

or adoption of a child, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Parents Act of 

5 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS. 

7 Title II of the Social Security Act is amended by in8 serting after section 218 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 219. PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Every individual— 

3 ‘‘(1) who has— 

4 ‘‘(A) not less than 8 quarters of coverage, 

5 4 of which are credited to calendar quarters 

6 during the calendar year preceding the calendar 

7 year in which the 1st month of the benefit pe8 riod described in subsection (c) occurs; or 

9 ‘‘(B) not less than 12 quarters of coverage; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(2) who has filed an application for a parental 

12 leave benefit with respect to a qualified child of the 

13 individual, 

14 shall be entitled to a parental leave benefit with respect 

15 to such qualified child. 

16 ‘‘(b) BENEFIT AMOUNT.—Such individual’s parental 

17 leave benefit shall be an amount equal to the product of— 

18 ‘‘(1) the number of benefit months (not to ex19 ceed 3) selected by the individual in the individual’s 

20 application for a parental leave benefit, multiplied by 

21 ‘‘(2) an amount equal to the primary insurance 

22 amount for the individual that would be determined 

23 under section 215 if— 

24 ‘‘(A) the individual had attained age 62 in 

25 the first month of the individual’s benefit pe26 riod; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the individual had become entitled to 

2 an old-age insurance benefit under section 202 

3 beginning with such month. 

4 For the purposes of the preceding sentence, the elapsed 

5 years referred to in section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii) shall not in6 clude the year in which the individual’s benefit period be7 gins, or any year thereafter. 

8 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT OF BENEFIT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) SELECTION OF NUMBER OF BENEFIT

10 MONTHS.—In filing an application for a parental 

11 leave benefit under this section, an individual shall 

12 select the number of months (not to exceed 3) for 

13 which the individual will receive a monthly payment 

14 under such parental leave benefit (in this section re15 ferred to as ‘benefit months’). 

16 ‘‘(2) ELECTION OF BENEFIT MONTHS.—Not 

17 later than 14 days before the start of any month in 

18 the benefit period of an individual entitled to a pa19 rental leave benefit, the individual may elect to treat 

20 such month as a benefit month. The number of 

21 months in such benefit period treated as benefit 

22 months shall equal the number selected in the indi23 vidual’s benefit application, and the Commissioner 

24 may designate any month as a benefit month in any 

25 case in which an individual does not elect to treat 


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1 a sufficient number of months as benefit months be2 fore the end of the benefit period. 

3 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF MONTHLY PAYMENT.—The 

4 amount of a monthly payment made in any benefit 

5 month within a benefit period to an individual enti6 tled to a parental leave benefit shall be an amount 

7 equal to— 

8 ‘‘(A) the amount of the parental leave ben9 efit determined for the individual under sub10 section (b); divided by 

11 ‘‘(B) the number of benefit months se12 lected by the individual pursuant to paragraph 

13 (1) with respect to such benefit. 

14 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF BENEFIT PERIOD.—For 

15 purposes of this section, the term ‘benefit period’ 

16 means, with respect to an individual entitled to a pa17 rental leave benefit with respect to a qualified child, 

18 the 1-year period beginning with the month after the 

19 month in which the birth or adoption of the qualified 

20 child occurs. 

21 ‘‘(d) BENEFIT APPLICATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall 

23 ensure that the application for a parental leave ben24 efit— 


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1 ‘‘(A) includes a notice, clearly written in 

2 language that is easily understandable to the 

3 reader, explaining that— 

4 ‘‘(i) failure to submit such proof or 

5 documentation as the Commissioner may 

6 require to demonstrate that the applicant 

7 is the parent of the qualified child shall be 

8 subject to criminal and civil penalties; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the full cost to the Trust Funds 

10 of any amount received by an individual as 

11 a parental leave benefit must be repaid 

12 through reductions to old-age insurance 

13 benefits payable to the individual in subse14 quent months, or by other means; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) entitlement to a parental leave 

16 benefit has no effect on the determination 

17 of an individual’s entitlement to leave 

18 under the Family and Medical Leave Act 

19 of 1993; and 

20 ‘‘(B) requires an attestation by the indi21 vidual submitting the application that— 

22 ‘‘(i) the individual expects to be the 

23 parent of a qualified child throughout the 

24 benefit period with respect to such applica25 tion; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the individual intends to use the 

2 benefit to finance spending more time with 

3 the qualified child at home and away from 

4 employment during the benefit period; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) the individual consents to the 

6 terms and conditions specified in the notice 

7 described in subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(2) OPTION TO FILE SIMULTANEOUS APPLICA9 TIONS.—The Commissioner of Social Security may 

10 establish an option under which an individual may 

11 file an application for a parental leave benefit under 

12 this section with respect to a qualified child at the 

13 same time the individual submits an application for 

14 a Social Security account number for such qualified 

15 child. 

16 ‘‘(3) ONLINE AVAILABILITY.—The Commis17 sioner of Social Security shall, as soon as practicable 

18 after the date of enactment of this section, permit 

19 an individual to apply for a parental leave benefit 

20 through an Internet website or other electronic 

21 media. 

22 ‘‘(e) FRAUD PREVENTION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of So24 cial Security shall establish procedures to ensure the 

25 prevention of fraud with respect to applications for 


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1 parental leave benefits under this section, including 

2 procedures for the submission of such proof or docu3 mentation as the Commissioner may require to 

4 verify the information contained in such an applica5 tion. 

6 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—In any case in which an 

7 individual willfully, knowingly, and with intent to de8 ceive the Commissioner of Social Security fails to 

9 comply with the procedures established under para10 graph (1), the Commissioner may impose on such in11 dividual, in addition to any other penalties that may 

12 be prescribed by law— 

13 ‘‘(A) a civil monetary penalty of not more 

14 than $7,500 for each such failure; and 

15 ‘‘(B) an assessment, in lieu of any dam16 ages sustained by the United States because of 

17 such failure, of not more than twice the amount 

18 of the cost to the Federal Old-Age and Sur19 vivors Insurance Trust Fund of any parental 

20 leave benefit paid to the individual. 

21 ‘‘(f) BENEFIT REPAYMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is paid 

23 a parental leave benefit under this section shall 

24 repay the full cost of such benefit to the Federal 

25 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (as 


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1 such amount is determined by the Commissioner) in 

2 accordance with this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(2) OLD-AGE INSURANCE BENEFIT OFFSET.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 paragraph (3), in the case of any individual de6 scribed in paragraph (1) who becomes entitled 

7 to an old-age insurance benefit, deductions shall 

8 be made from each monthly payment of such 

9 benefit (not to exceed the first 60 such monthly 

10 payments) in such amounts, subject to subpara11 graph (B), as the Commissioner of Social Secu12 rity shall determine necessary to fully recover 

13 the cost to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors 

14 Insurance Trust Fund of any parental leave 

15 benefit paid to the individual as of the month 

16 in which the individual becomes entitled to an 

17 old-age insurance benefit. 

18 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than the 

19 beginning of each calendar year, the Commis20 sioner of Social Security shall notify each indi21 vidual whose old-age insurance benefits are sub22 ject to a deduction under subparagraph (A) 

23 during such calendar year of the amount of the 

24 deduction that will be applied to each monthly 


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1 payment of such benefits during the calendar 

2 year. 

3 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE INCREASE OF RETIREMENT

4 AGE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any in6 dividual described in paragraph (1) who be7 comes entitled to an old-age insurance benefit, 

8 such individual may elect, at the time of appli9 cation for such benefit, to be subject to a retire10 ment age increase in accordance with this para11 graph. Such election shall be irrevocable, and 

12 an individual who makes such an election shall 

13 not be subject to a deduction under paragraph 

14 (2) for any month. 

15 ‘‘(B) RETIREMENT AGE INCREASE.—Not16 withstanding section 216(l)(1), with respect to 

17 an individual who makes an election under sub18 paragraph (A), the retirement age of such indi19 vidual shall be deemed to be— 

20 ‘‘(i) the retirement age determined 

21 with respect to the individual under such 

22 section; plus 

23 ‘‘(ii) the additional number of months 

24 the Commissioner of Social Security shall 

25 determine necessary to result in the full reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Apr 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940

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1 covery of the cost to the Federal Old-Age 

2 and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund of 

3 any parental leave benefit paid to the indi4 vidual and not yet repaid pursuant to 

5 paragraph (2) as of the month in which 

6 the individual becomes entitled to an old7 age insurance benefit. 

8 ‘‘(4) OTHER RECOVERY METHODS.—In any 

9 case in which the Commissioner of Social Security 

10 determines that the cost to the Federal Old-Age and 

11 Survivors Insurance Trust Fund of a parental leave 

12 benefit paid to an individual cannot be fully recov13 ered pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3)— 

14 ‘‘(A) such benefit shall be deemed, upon 

15 the making of such determination, to be a pay16 ment of more than the correct amount for pur17 poses of section 204; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the Commissioner may recover such 

19 amounts by means of any method available to 

20 the Commissioner under such section. 

21 ‘‘(5) PROJECTION OF REPAYMENT AMOUNT.— 

22 As soon as practicable after the date of enactment 

23 of this section, the Commissioner shall establish a 

24 system to make available through an Internet 

25 website or other electronic media to each individual 


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1 who is paid a parental leave benefit under this sec2 tion, beginning with the first month beginning after 

3 the individual’s benefit period the projected amount 

4 of the deduction to be made from each of the first 

5 60 monthly payments of old-age insurance benefits 

6 under paragraph (2), or if the individual so elects, 

7 the additional number of months by which the indi8 vidual’s retirement age would be increased under 

9 paragraph (3), in order to fully repay the cost to the 

10 Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 

11 Fund of any parental leave benefit paid to the indi12 vidual, and a description of the assumptions used by 

13 the Commissioner in making such projection. 

14 ‘‘(g) RELATIONSHIP WITH STATE LAW; EMPLOYER

15 BENEFITS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not pre17 empt or supersede any provision of State or local 

18 law that authorizes a State or political subdivision to 

19 provide paid parental or family medical leave bene20 fits similar to the benefits provided under this sec21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(2) GREATER BENEFITS ALLOWED.—Nothing 

23 in this Act shall be construed to diminish the obliga24 tion of an employer to comply with any contract, col25 lective bargaining agreement, or employment benefit 


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1 program or plan that provides greater benefits for 

2 leave or other leave rights to individuals than the 

3 benefits for leave or leave rights established under 

4 this Act. 

5 ‘‘(h) SUNSET.—No application for parental leave ben6 efits under this section may be filed in any calendar year 

7 if the OASDI trust fund ratio (as defined in section 

8 215(i)) for such calendar year or for the year following 

9 such calendar year is projected, based on the intermediate 

10 projections in the most recent (as of January 1 of such 

11 calendar year) annual report issued under section 

12 201(c)(2), to be less than 20 percent. 

13 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘qualified child’ means, with re15 spect to an individual for a benefit period, a biologi16 cal child or legally adopted child of the individual (as 

17 determined by the Commissioner of Social Security) 

18 who— 

19 ‘‘(A) will not attain 18 years of age before 

20 the end of such benefit period; and 

21 ‘‘(B) will be residing with, and under the 

22 care of, the individual during the benefit period 

23 as determined by the Commissioner.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) NONPAYMENT PROVISIONS.—Section 202 of the 

3 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (n)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘under 

5 this section or section 223’’ and inserting ‘‘under 

6 this section, section 219, or section 223’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (t), in paragraphs (1) and 

8 (10), by striking ‘‘under this section or under sec9 tion 223’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘under 

10 this section, under section 219, or under section 

11 223’’; 

12 (3) in subsection (u)(1), by striking ‘‘under this 

13 section or section 223’’ and inserting ‘‘under this 

14 section, section 219, or section 223’’; and 

15 (4) in subsection (x)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 

17 ‘‘under this section or under section 223’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘under this section, under section 

19 219, or under section 223’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘under 

21 this section or section 223’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘under this section, section 219, or section 

23 223’’. 

24 (b) DELAYED RETIREMENT CREDITS.—Section 

25 202(w) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(w)) is 

26 amended by inserting after ‘‘age 70’’ each place it appears 


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1 the following: ‘‘(or, in the case of an individual whose re2 tirement age is increased under section 219(f)(3), age 70 

3 plus the number of months by which the individual’s re4 tirement age is so increased)’’. 

5 (c) VOLUNTARY SUSPENSION OF BENEFITS.—Sec6 tion 202(z)(1)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 402(z)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘the age of 70’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘age 70 (or, in the case of an individual 

9 whose retirement age is increased under section 219(f)(3), 

10 age 70 plus the number of months by which the individ11 ual’s retirement age is so increased)’’. 

12 (d) NUMBER OF BENEFIT COMPUTATION YEARS.— 

13 Section 215(b)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 415(b)(2)(A)) is amended— 

15 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, and’’ and insert16 ing a semicolon; 

17 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period and in18 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

20 ‘‘(iii) in the case of an individual who is entitled 

21 to a parental leave benefit under section 219, by the 

22 number of years equal to one-fifth of such individ23 ual’s elapsed years (disregarding any resulting frac24 tional part of a year), but not by more than 5 

25 years.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

3 respect to applications for parental leave benefits filed 

4 after 2021. 

Æ 


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