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-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Parents Act of 
2019’’. 
SEC. 2. PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS. 
Title II of the Social Security Act is amended by in-
serting after section 218 the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 219. PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Every individual— 
‘‘(1) who has— 
‘‘(A) not less than 8 quarters of coverage, 
4 of which are credited to calendar quarters 
during the calendar year preceding the calendar 
year in which the 1st month of the benefit pe-
riod described in subsection (c) occurs; or 
‘‘(B) not less than 12 quarters of coverage; 
and 
‘‘(2) who has filed an application for a parental 
leave benefit with respect to a qualified child of the 
individual, 
shall be entitled to a parental leave benefit with respect 
to such qualified child. 
‘‘(b) BENEFIT AMOUNT.—Such individual’s parental 
leave benefit shall be an amount equal to the product of— 
‘‘(1) the number of benefit months (not to ex-
ceed 3) selected by the individual in the individual’s 
application for a parental leave benefit, multiplied by 
‘‘(2) an amount equal to the primary insurance 
amount for the individual that would be determined 
under section 215 if— 
‘‘(A) the individual had attained age 62 in 
the first month of the individual’s benefit pe-
riod; and 
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‘‘(B) the individual had become entitled to 
an old-age insurance benefit under section 202 
beginning with such month. 
For the purposes of the preceding sentence, the elapsed 
years referred to in section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii) shall not in-
clude the year in which the individual’s benefit period be-
gins, or any year thereafter. 
‘‘(c) PAYMENT OF BENEFIT.— 
‘‘(1) SELECTION
OF
NUMBER
OF
BENEFIT 
MONTHS.—In filing an application for a parental 
leave benefit under this section, an individual shall 
select the number of months (not to exceed 3) for 
which the individual will receive a monthly payment 
under such parental leave benefit (in this section re-
ferred to as ‘benefit months’). 
‘‘(2) ELECTION
OF
BENEFIT
MONTHS.—Not 
later than 14 days before the start of any month in 
the benefit period of an individual entitled to a pa-
rental leave benefit, the individual may elect to treat 
such month as a benefit month. The number of 
months in such benefit period treated as benefit 
months shall equal the number selected in the indi-
vidual’s benefit application, and the Commissioner 
may designate any month as a benefit month in any 
case in which an individual does not elect to treat 
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a sufficient number of months as benefit months be-
fore the end of the benefit period. 
‘‘(3) AMOUNT
OF
MONTHLY
PAYMENT.—The 
amount of a monthly payment made in any benefit 
month within a benefit period to an individual enti-
tled to a parental leave benefit shall be an amount 
equal to— 
‘‘(A) the amount of the parental leave ben-
efit determined for the individual under sub-
section (b); divided by 
‘‘(B) the number of benefit months se-
lected by the individual pursuant to paragraph 
(1) with respect to such benefit. 
‘‘(4) DEFINITION
OF
BENEFIT
PERIOD.—For 
purposes of this section, the term ‘benefit period’ 
means, with respect to an individual entitled to a pa-
rental leave benefit with respect to a qualified child, 
the 1-year period beginning with the month after the 
month in which the birth or adoption of the qualified 
child occurs. 
‘‘(d) BENEFIT APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall 
ensure that the application for a parental leave ben-
efit— 
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‘‘(A) includes a notice, clearly written in 
language that is easily understandable to the 
reader, explaining that— 
‘‘(i) failure to submit such proof or 
documentation as the Commissioner may 
require to demonstrate that the applicant 
is the parent of the qualified child shall be 
subject to criminal and civil penalties; 
‘‘(ii) the full cost to the Trust Funds 
of any amount received by an individual as 
a parental leave benefit must be repaid 
through reductions to old-age insurance 
benefits payable to the individual in subse-
quent months, or by other means; and 
‘‘(iii) entitlement to a parental leave 
benefit has no effect on the determination 
of an individual’s entitlement to leave 
under the Family and Medical Leave Act 
of 1993; and 
‘‘(B) requires an attestation by the indi-
vidual submitting the application that— 
‘‘(i) the individual expects to be the 
parent of a qualified child throughout the 
benefit period with respect to such applica-
tion; 
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‘‘(ii) the individual intends to use the 
benefit to finance spending more time with 
the qualified child at home and away from 
employment during the benefit period; and 
‘‘(iii) the individual consents to the 
terms and conditions specified in the notice 
described in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(2) OPTION TO FILE SIMULTANEOUS APPLICA-
TIONS.—The Commissioner of Social Security may 
establish an option under which an individual may 
file an application for a parental leave benefit under 
this section with respect to a qualified child at the 
same time the individual submits an application for 
a Social Security account number for such qualified 
child. 
‘‘(3) ONLINE
AVAILABILITY.—The Commis-
sioner of Social Security shall, as soon as practicable 
after the date of enactment of this section, permit 
an individual to apply for a parental leave benefit 
through an Internet website or other electronic 
media. 
‘‘(e) FRAUD PREVENTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of So-
cial Security shall establish procedures to ensure the 
prevention of fraud with respect to applications for 
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