[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 16, 1992]
[Pages 1572-1573]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Family Leave Tax Credit 
Legislation
September 16, 1992

To the Congress of the United States:
    I am pleased to transmit for your immediate consideration and 
enactment the ``Family Leave Tax Credit Act of 1992''. This flexible 
family leave plan will enable 80 percent of the workplaces in the 
country--the small and mid-sized businesses that often cannot provide 
family leave--to provide family leave for their employees without 
costing jobs or stifling economic growth. The proposal will cover 15 
million more workers, and 20 times as many workplaces, than the 
proposals in S. 5.
    This legislation will provide a refundable tax credit for up to 20 
percent of total compensation, for up to $100 a week--to a maximum of 
$1,200--for businesses that provide their employees with 12 weeks of 
family leave. An employee would be eligible to take leave under the 
following circumstances: the birth of a child, the placement of a child 
with the employee for adoption or foster care, care for a child, parent, 
or spouse with a serious health condition, or a serious health condition 
that prevents the employee from performing his or her job.
    This is not federally mandated leave. It instead gives employers 
positive incentives to adopt responsible family leave policies

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and gives them the flexibility to target the specific needs of their 
employees. To qualify for the credit, businesses must adopt 
nondiscriminatory policies that provide protections for employees' jobs, 
benefits, and health insurance.
    On May 5, 1992, the Administration transmitted the ``Health Benefits 
for Self Employed Individuals Act of 1992'' to the Congress. This 
proposal was also intended to help improve benefits for small 
businesses, without deterring economic growth, by expanding the 
deductibility of health insurance from 25 percent of costs to 100 
percent of costs. Packaged with the Family Leave Tax Credit, we are 
providing a strong impetus for small businesses to develop quality 
benefits programs.
    The Department of the Treasury has estimated the cost of the Family 
Leave Tax Credit at approximately $500 million for FY 1993 and $2.7 
billion over 5 years. The combined cost of the Family Leave Tax Credit 
and the ``Health Benefits for the Self Employed'' is $740 million in 
1993 and $7.7 billion over 5 years. These costs must be offset under the 
Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. In my 1993 Budget, I identified $68.4 
billion of specific mandatory spending reductions. Any of those offsets 
would be acceptable to the Administration. Additionally, when the self 
employed tax credit was transmitted to the Congress, over $9.3 billion 
of these offsets were specifically suggested to pay for the proposal--
substantially more than was required. Those same $9.3 billion in offsets 
are sufficient to pay for the costs of both the self employed deduction 
and the Family Leave Tax Credit under the Budget Enforcement Act of 
1990.
    I urge the Congress to take prompt action to generate constructive 
family leave policies that are consistent with economic growth by 
quickly passing this legislation.

                                                             George Bush

The White House,
September 16, 1992.