[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5173 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5173

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 23, 2014

 Mr. Cassidy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


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

    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) $4,000, 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 4 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 4 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.''.
    (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 taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
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