Title: Paid Family Leave Pilot Extension Act
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Paid Family Leave Pilot Extension Act
This bill extends through 2022 the tax credit for employers who provide employees with paid family and medical leave.
The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to (1) examine the effectiveness of the tax credit for paid family and medical leave, (2) recommend ways to modify or enhance the tax credit to further promote access to paid family and medical leave for qualifying employees, and (3) suggest alternative policies that federal and state governments could implement to increase access to paid family and medical leave.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1628 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1628

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the employer 
   credit for paid family and medical leave, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 23 (legislative day, May 22), 2019

 Mrs. Fischer (for herself, Mr. King, and Ms. Collins) 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 extend the employer 
   credit for 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 ``Paid Family Leave Pilot Extension 
Act''.

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

    (a) Program Extension.--Section 45S(i) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended by striking ``December 31, 2019'' and inserting 
``December 31, 2022''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019.

SEC. 3. EMPLOYER REQUIREMENTS FOR RATE OF PAYMENT.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (c) of section 45S of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting after the first 
        sentence the following: ``For purposes of determining the rate 
        of payment under the program, any family and medical leave 
        which is paid by a State or local government or required by 
        State or local law, determined as a percentage of the wages 
        normally paid to such employee for services performed for the 
        employer, shall be taken into account.'', and
            (2) in paragraph (4)--
                    (A) by striking ``For purposes of this section, 
                any'' and inserting ``Any'', and
                    (B) by striking ``amount of paid family and medical 
                leave provided by the employer'' and inserting ``wages 
                taken into account under subsection (a)''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as if included in section 13403 of Public Law 115-97.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 45S of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``credit allowed'' 
        and inserting ``wages taken into account'',
            (2) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (3) and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(3) Aggregation rule.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), all persons which are treated as a 
                single employer under subsections (b) and (c) of 
                section 414 shall be treated as a single employer.
                    ``(B) Exception.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subparagraph (A) shall 
                        not apply to any person who establishes to the 
                        satisfaction of the Secretary that such person 
                        has a substantial and legitimate business 
                        reason for failing to provide a written policy 
                        described in paragraph (1) or (2).
                            ``(ii) Substantial and legitimate business 
                        reason.--For purposes of clause (i), the term 
                        `substantial and legitimate business reason' 
                        shall not include the operation of a separate 
                        line of business, the rate of wages or category 
                        of jobs for employees (or any similar basis), 
                        or the application of State or local laws 
                        relating to family and medical leave, but may 
                        include the grouping of employees of a common 
                        law employer.'', and
            (3) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting ``, as determined on 
        an annualized basis (pro-rata for part-time employees),'' after 
        ``compensation''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as if included in section 13403 of Public Law 115-97.

SEC. 5. GAO STUDY OF IMPACT OF TAX CREDIT TO PROMOTE ACCESS TO PAID 
              FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE.

    (a) Study.--Not later than June 30, 2022, 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 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.
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