Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2015
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2015
This bill allows a federal employee, including an employee of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), to substitute any available paid leave for any leave without pay available for either the: (1) birth of a child, or (2) placement of a child with the employee for either adoption or foster care. The bill makes available (subject to specified requirements) for any of the 12 weeks of leave an employee is entitled to for such purposes: (1) six administrative workweeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth or placement involved, and (2) any accrued or accumulated annual or sick leave.
The bill authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to promulgate regulations to increase the amount of paid parental leave available to such an employee to a total of 12 administrative workweeks, based on the consideration of: (1) the benefits to the federal government, including enhanced recruitment and employee retention; (2) the cost to the government; (3) trends in the private sector and in state and local governments; (4) the federal government's role as a model employer; and (5) the impact of increased paid parental leave on lower-income and economically disadvantaged employees and their children.
The bill amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow the same substitution for covered congressional employees, Government Accountability Office (GAO) employees, and Library of Congress (LOC) employees. Service by an employee of the executive branch, the TSA, Congress, the GAO, or the LOC while on active duty as a member of the National Guard or Reserves is counted as service for that branch or agency for purposes of determining such employee's eligibility to take or substitute leave as provided by this Act.
The GAO must report to Congress, not later than five years after enactment of this Act, on its implementation.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on September 15, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 15, 2015: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced it on September 15, 2015, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 15, 2015, 4013 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4013 days ago, on September 15, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers