[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 42 (Friday, March 5, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1163. Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. Scott, of South Carolina, and 
Mr. Moran) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment 
SA 891 proposed by Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. Murray, 
Mr. Brown, Mr. Peters, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. 
Tester, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Carper, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. 
Sanders) to the bill H.R. 1319, to provide for reconciliation pursuant 
to title II of S. Con. Res. 5; which was ordered to lie on the table; 
as follows:

        Strike section 4001 and insert the following:

     SEC. 4001. EMERGENCY FEDERAL EMPLOYEE LEAVE FUND.

       (a) Establishment; Appropriation.--There is established in 
     the Treasury the Emergency Federal Employee Leave Fund (in 
     this section referred to as the ``Fund''), to be administered 
     by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, for 
     the purposes set forth in subsection (b). In addition to 
     amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated for fiscal 
     year 2021, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
     appropriated, $15,000,000, which shall be deposited into the 
     Fund and remain available through September 30, 2022. The 
     Fund is available for reasonable expenses incurred by the 
     Office of Personnel Management in administering this section.
       (b) Purpose.--Amounts in the Fund shall be available for 
     reimbursement to an agency for the use of paid leave under 
     this section by any employee of the agency who is unable to 
     work because the employee--
       (1) is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or 
     isolation order related to COVID-19;
       (2) has been advised by a health care provider to self-
     quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19;
       (3) is caring for an individual who is subject to such an 
     order or has been so advised;
       (4) is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a 
     medical diagnosis;
       (5) is caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the 
     school or place of care of the son or daughter has been 
     closed, if the school of such son or daughter requires or 
     makes optional a virtual learning instruction model or 
     requires or makes optional a hybrid of in-person and virtual 
     learning instruction models, or the child care provider of 
     such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 
     precautions;
       (6) is experiencing any other substantially similar 
     condition;
       (7) is caring for a family member with a mental or physical 
     disability or who is 55 years of age or older and incapable 
     of self-care, without regard to whether another individual 
     other than the employee is available to care for such family 
     member, if the place of care for such family member is closed 
     or the direct care provider is unavailable due to COVID-19; 
     or
       (8) is obtaining immunization related to COVID-19 or to 
     recover from any injury, disability, illness, or condition 
     related to such immunization.
       (c) Limitations.--
       (1) Period of availability.--Paid leave under this section 
     may only be provided to and used by an employee during the 
     period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 
     ending on September 30, 2021.
       (2) Total hours; amount.--Paid leave under this section--
       (A) shall be provided to an employee in an amount not to 
     exceed 600 hours of paid leave for each full-time employee, 
     and in the case of a part-time employee, employee on an 
     uncommon tour of duty, or employee with a seasonal work 
     schedule, in an amount not to exceed the proportional 
     equivalent of 600 hours to the extent amounts in the Fund 
     remain available for reimbursement;
       (B) shall be paid at the same hourly rate as other leave 
     payments; and
       (C) may not be provided to an employee if the leave would 
     result in payments greater than $2,800 in aggregate for any 
     biweekly pay period for a full-time employee, or a 
     proportionally equivalent biweekly limit for a part-time 
     employee.
       (3) Relationship to other leave.--Paid leave under this 
     section--
       (A) is in addition to any other leave provided to an 
     employee;
       (B) may not be used by an employee concurrently with any 
     other paid leave; and
       (C) may not be used by an employee unless the employee has 
     first used other sick leave available to that employee for a 
     purpose described in subsection (b).
       (4) Calculation of retirement benefit.--Any paid leave 
     provided to an employee under this section shall reduce the 
     total service used to calculate any Federal civilian 
     retirement benefit.
       (5) Special consideration of sick leave.--During the period 
     described in paragraph (1), an employee may use sick leave 
     otherwise accrued to the employee for any purpose described 
     in subsection (b).
       (d) Reopening Schools.--In addition to amounts otherwise 
     available, there is appropriated to the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in 
     the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $400,000,000, to 
     remain available until September 30, 2025, to carry out the 
     purposes of the Disaster Relief Fund for the emergency 
     declaration issued by the President on March 13, 2020, 
     pursuant to section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
     Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)), and 
     for any subsequent major disaster declaration that supersedes 
     such emergency declaration, to reimburse eligible costs to 
     support the safe reopening and operation of schools.
       (e) Employee Defined.--In this section, the term 
     ``employee'' means--
       (1) an individual in the executive branch for whom annual 
     and sick leave is provided under subchapter I of chapter 63 
     of title 5, United States Code;
       (2) an individual employed by the United States Postal 
     Service;
       (3) an individual employed by the Postal Regulatory 
     Commission; and
       (4) an employee of the Public Defender Service for the 
     District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Courts.
                                 ______