Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2017
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2017
This bill allows executive branch employees to substitute any available paid leave for any leave without pay for either: (1) the birth of a child, or (2) the placement of a child for adoption or foster care. It makes available for any of the 12 weeks of leave an employee is entitled to for such purposes: (1) six administrative weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth or placement involved, and (2) any accumulated annual or sick leave.
The bill authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to promulgate regulations to increase the amount of paid parental leave to a total of 12 administrative workweeks. Such regulations must consider certain factors, including benefit and cost to the federal government.
The personnel management system for employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shall include family and medical leave (including paid parental leave) for any leave without pay. 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 employees. Service in the National Guard or the Reserves by executive branch employees, TSA employees, congressional employees, and GAO or Library of Congress employees shall count as service for purposes of determining eligibility to take or substitute leave as allowed under this bill.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on February 13, 2017. 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 February 13, 2017: 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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 February 13, 2017, 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 February 13, 2017, 3496 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3496 days ago, on February 13, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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