Title: Strong Families Act
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Strong Families Act
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow certain employers a business-related tax credit for up to 25% of the amount of wages paid to their employees during any period (not exceeding 12 weeks) in which such employees are on family and medical leave, (2) limit the allowable amount of such credit to $3,000 per employee for any taxable year, and (3) terminate such credit two years after the enactment of this bill.
The Government Accountability Office shall complete a study on the effectiveness of the tax credit for paid family and medical leave.
The Office of Management and Budget shall determine: (1) the dollar amount obligated by each executive agency to purchase and to lease civilian vehicles in FY2010, and (2) the total number of civilian vehicles purchased and leased by each executive agency in FY2010. Executive agencies may not obligate more than 90% of the amount they obligated in FY2010 to purchase or lease civilian vehicles in each of FY2017-FY2021.
The bill permanently rescinds all unobligated amounts in the U.S. Enrichment Corporation Fund, except for amounts designated as an emergency requirement.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 344 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 344

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit to 
  employers who provide paid family and medical leave, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 8 (legislative day, February 6), 2017

Mrs. Fischer (for herself and Mr. King) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit to 
  employers who provide paid family and medical leave, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Strong Families Act''.

SEC. 2. EMPLOYER CREDIT FOR PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Allowance of credit.--Subpart D of part IV of 
        subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 45S. EMPLOYER CREDIT FOR PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE.

    ``(a) In General.--For purposes of section 38, in the case of an 
eligible employer, the paid family and medical leave credit is an 
amount equal to 25 percent of the amount of wages paid to qualifying 
employees during any period in which such employees are on family and 
medical leave.
    ``(b) Limitations.--
            ``(1) In general.--The credit allowed under subsection (a) 
        with respect to any employee for any taxable year shall not 
        exceed the lesser of--
                    ``(A) $3,000, or
                    ``(B) the product of the wages normally paid to 
                such employee for each hour (or fraction thereof) of 
                services performed for the employer and the number of 
                hours (or fraction thereof) for which family and 
                medical leave is taken.
        For purposes of subparagraph (B), in the case of any employee 
        who is not paid on an hourly basis, the wages of such employee 
        shall be prorated to an hourly basis under regulations 
        established by the Secretary, in consultation with the 
        Secretary of Labor.
            ``(2) Maximum amount of leave subject to credit.--The 
        amount of family and medical leave that may be taken into 
        account with respect to any employee under subsection (a) for 
        any taxable year shall not exceed 12 weeks.
    ``(c) Eligible Employer.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) In general.--The term `eligible employer' means any 
        employer who has in place a policy that meets the following 
        requirements:
                    ``(A) The policy provides--
                            ``(i) all qualifying full-time employees 
                        with not less than 2 weeks of annual paid 
                        family and medical leave, and
                            ``(ii) all qualifying employees who are not 
                        full-time employees with an amount of annual 
                        paid family and medical leave that bears the 
                        same ratio to 2 weeks as--
                                    ``(I) the number of hours the 
                                employee is expected to work during any 
                                week, bears to
                                    ``(II) the number of hours an 
                                equivalent qualifying full-time 
                                employee is expected to work during the 
                                week.
                    ``(B) The policy requires that the rate of payment 
                under the program is not less than 100 percent of the 
                wages normally paid to such employee for services 
                performed for the employer.
            ``(2) Special rule for certain employers.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An added employer shall not be 
                treated as an eligible employer unless such employer 
                provides paid family and medical leave under a policy 
                with a provision that states that the employer--
                            ``(i) will not interfere with, restrain, or 
                        deny the exercise of or the attempt to 
                        exercise, any right provided under the policy, 
                        and
                            ``(ii) will not discharge or in any other 
                        manner discriminate against any individual for 
                        opposing any practice prohibited by the policy.
                    ``(B) Added employer; added employee.--For purposes 
                of this paragraph--
                            ``(i) Added employee.--The term `added 
                        employee' means a qualifying employee who is 
                        not covered by title I of the Family and 
                        Medical Leave Act of 1993.
                            ``(ii) Added employer.--The term `added 
                        employer' means an eligible employer 
                        (determined without regard to this paragraph), 
                        whether or not covered by that title I, who 
                        offers paid family and medical leave to added 
                        employees.
            ``(3) Treatment of state-paid benefits.--For purposes of 
        paragraph (1), any leave which is paid by a State or local 
        government shall not be taken into account in determining the 
        amount of paid family and medical leave provided by the 
        employer.
            ``(4) No inference.--Nothing in this subsection shall be 
        construed as subjecting an employer to any penalty, liability, 
        or other consequence (other than ineligibility for the credit 
        allowed by reason of subsection (a)) for failure to comply with 
        the requirements of this subsection.
    ``(d) Qualifying Employees.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`qualifying employee' means any employee (as defined in section 3(e) of 
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938) who has been employed by the 
employer for 1 year or more.
    ``(e) Family and Medical Leave.--For purposes of this section, the 
term `family and medical leave' means leave for any purpose described 
under subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of paragraph (1), or 
paragraph (3), of section 102(a) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
1993, whether the leave is provided under that Act or by a policy of 
the employer. Such term shall not include any leave provided as paid 
vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave (within the 
meaning of those 3 terms under section 102(d)(2) of that Act).
    ``(f) Wages.--For purposes of this section, the term `wages' has 
the meaning given such term by subsection (b) of section 3306 
(determined without regard to any dollar limitation contained in such 
section). Such term shall not include any amount taken into account for 
purposes of determining any other credit allowed under this subpart.
    ``(g) Election To Have Credit Not Apply.--
            ``(1) In general.--A taxpayer may elect to have this 
        section not apply for any taxable year.
            ``(2) Other rules.--Rules similar to the rules of 
        paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 51(j) shall apply for 
        purposes of this subsection.
    ``(h) Termination.--This section shall not apply to wages paid in 
any taxable year beginning after the date which is 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of the Strong Families Act.''.
    (b) Credit Part of General Business Credit.--Section 38(b) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``plus'' at the 
end of paragraph (35), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
(36) and inserting ``, plus'', and by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph:
            ``(37) in the case of an eligible employer (as defined in 
        section 45S(c)), the paid family and medical leave credit 
        determined under section 45S(a).''.
    (c) Credit Allowed Against AMT.--Subparagraph (B) of section 
38(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
redesignating clauses (vii) through (ix) as clauses (vii) through (x), 
respectively, and by inserting after clause (vi) the following new 
clause:
                            ``(vii) the credit determined under section 
                        45S,''.
    (d) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Denial of double benefit.--Section 280C(a) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 
        ``45S(a),'' after ``45P(a),''.
            (2) Election to have credit not apply.--Section 6501(m) of 
        such Code is amended by inserting ``45S(g),'' after 
        ``45H(g),''.
            (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for subpart 
        D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 
        amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 45S. Employer credit for paid family and medical leave.''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to wages paid in taxable years beginning after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. GAO STUDY OF IMPACT OF TAX CREDIT TO PROMOTE ACCESS TO PAID 
              FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE.

    (a) Study.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation 
with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor, shall--
            (1) complete a study that--
                    (A) examines the effectiveness of the tax credit 
                for paid family and medical leave authorized under 
                section 45S of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as 
                added by this Act) in terms of--
                            (i) increasing access to paid family and 
                        medical leave among qualifying employees;
                            (ii) promoting the creation of new paid 
                        family and medical leave policies among 
                        eligible employers;
                            (iii) increasing the generosity of existing 
                        paid family and medical leave policies among 
                        eligible employers; and
                            (iv) incenting employee or employer 
                        behavior that might not otherwise have occurred 
                        in the absence of the credit;
                    (B) provides recommendations for ways to modify or 
                enhance the tax credit to further promote access to 
                paid family and medical leave for qualifying employees; 
                and
                    (C) provides suggestions of alternative policies 
                that Federal and State governments could implement to 
                increase access to paid family and medical leave, 
                particularly among qualifying employees; and
            (2) prepare and submit a report to the Committee on Finance 
        of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
        of Representatives setting forth the conclusions of the study 
        conducted under paragraph (1) in such a manner that the 
        recommendations included in the report can inform future 
        legislative action. Such report shall also be made publicly 
        available via the website of the Government Accountability 
        Office.
    (b) Prohibition.--In carrying out the requirements of this section, 
the Comptroller General of the United States may request qualitative 
and quantitative information from employers and employees claiming the 
credit under section 45S of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, but 
nothing in this section shall be construed as mandating additional 
reporting requirements for such employers or employees beyond what is 
already required by law.

SEC. 4. REDUCTION OF THE NUMBER OF NONESSENTIAL VEHICLES PURCHASED AND 
              LEASED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

    (a) Review of Nonessential Vehicle Purchase.--The Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the head of the 
relevant Executive agency, shall complete each of the following:
            (1) Determine the total dollar amount obligated by each 
        Executive agency to purchase civilian vehicles in fiscal year 
        2010.
            (2) Determine the total dollar amount obligated by each 
        Executive agency to lease civilian vehicles in fiscal year 
        2010.
            (3) Determine the total number of civilian vehicles 
        purchased by each Executive agency in fiscal year 2010.
            (4) Determine the total number of civilian vehicles leased 
        by each Executive agency in fiscal year 2010.
            (5) Determine the total dollar amount that would be 10 
        percent less than the dollar amount determined under paragraphs 
        (1) and (2) for each Executive agency.
    (b) Reduction of Nonessential Vehicle Purchase.--For each of fiscal 
years 2017 through 2021, each Executive agency may not obligate more 
than the dollar amount determined under subsection (a)(5) for the 
Executive agency to purchase or lease civilian vehicles.
    (c) Sharing.--The Administrator of General Services shall ensure 
that an Executive agency may share excess or unused vehicles with 
another Executive agency that may need temporary or long-term use of 
additional vehicles through the Federal Fleet Management System.
    (d) National Security Exception.--The limits on the purchase and 
procurement of vehicles under this section shall not apply to the 
purchase or procurement of any vehicle that has been determined by the 
President to be essential for reasons of national security.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Civilian vehicle.--The term ``civilian vehicle'' means 
        a vehicle that is not used for purposes of military combat, the 
        training or deployment of members of the Armed Forces, or such 
        other uses as determined by the Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget, in consultation with the Administrator 
        of General Services.
            (2) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has 
        the meaning given that term under section 105 of title 5, 
        United States Code.

SEC. 5. UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORPORATION FUND.

    (a) Rescission.--Subject to subsection (b), all unobligated amounts 
in the United States Enrichment Corporation Fund are permanently 
rescinded.
    (b) Exclusions From Rescission.--The rescission under subsection 
(a) shall not apply to amounts that were designated by Congress as an 
emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 
901(b)(2)(A)(i)).
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