[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7117 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7117
To require employers to pay essential pay to health care employees
during public health emergencies, and to provide a tax credit for the
cost of such pay.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 4, 2020
Mrs. Watson Coleman (for herself, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Engel, Mr.
Cohen, Ms. Barragan, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Green of Texas, Mrs.
Hayes, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Jackson Lee, and
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on
Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require employers to pay essential pay to health care employees
during public health emergencies, and to provide a tax credit for the
cost of such pay.
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 ``Essential Pay for Essential Workers
Act''.
SEC. 2. MANDATORY ESSENTIAL PAY FOR HEALTH CARE EMPLOYEES DURING PUBLIC
HEALTH EMERGENCIES.
(a) Employer Requirement.--During an emergency period, an employer
of an essential employee shall pay the employee at a rate equal to the
sum of the regular rate of pay of the employee and $15.
(b) Enforcement.--A violation of subsection (a) shall be deemed a
violation of section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 206) and unpaid amounts shall be treated as unpaid overtime
compensation for the purposes of sections 15 and 16 of such Act (29
U.S.C. 215 and 216).
(c) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) FLSA terms.--The terms ``employer'' and ``employ'' have
the meanings given the terms in section 3 of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203).
(2) Essential.--The term ``essential employee'' means an
employee identified as an essential critical infrastructure
worker in the memorandum entitled, ``Advisory Memorandum on
Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers
During COVID-19 Response'' issued by the Director of the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency on March 28, 2020, or a
successor memorandum.
(3) Emergency period.--The term ``emergency period'' has
the meaning given such term in section 1135(g) of the Social
Security Act.
(4) Regular rate.--The term ``regular rate'' has the
meaning given the term in section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207).
SEC. 3. PAYROLL CREDIT FOR CERTAIN MANDATORY ESSENTIAL PAY.
(a) In General.--In the case of an employer, there shall be allowed
as a credit against the tax imposed by section 3111(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 for each calendar quarter an amount equal to 100
percent of the qualified essential pay wages paid by such employer with
respect to such calendar quarter.
(b) Limitations and Refundability.--
(1) Credit limited to certain employment taxes.--The credit
allowed by subsection (a) with respect to any calendar quarter
shall not exceed the tax imposed by section 3111(a) of such
Code for such calendar quarter (reduced by any other credits
allowed against such tax for such quarter) on the wages paid
with respect to the employment of all employees of the
employer.
(2) Refundability of excess credit.--
(A) In general.--If the amount of the credit under
subsection (a) exceeds the limitation of paragraph (1)
for any calendar quarter, such excess shall be treated
as an overpayment that shall be refunded under sections
6402(a) and 6413(b) of such Code.
(B) Treatment of payments.--For purposes of section
1324 of title 31, United States Code, any amounts due
to an employer under this paragraph shall be treated in
the same manner as a refund due from a credit provision
referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section.
(c) Qualified Essential Pay Wages.--For purposes of this section,
the term ``qualified essential pay wages'' means wages (as defined in
section 3121(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) paid by an
employer which are required to be paid by reason of section 2.
(d) Special Rules.--
(1) Denial of double benefit.--For purposes of chapter 1 of
such Code, the gross income of the employer, for the taxable
year which includes the last day of any calendar quarter with
respect to which a credit is allowed under this section, shall
be increased by the amount of such credit.
(2) Election not to have section apply.--This section shall
not apply with respect to any employer for any calendar quarter
if such employer elects (at such time and in such manner as the
Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) may
prescribe) not to have this section apply.
(3) Certain terms.--Any term used in this section which is
also used in chapter 21 of such Code shall have the same
meaning as when used in such chapter.
(e) Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's
delegate) shall prescribe such regulations or other guidance as may be
necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including--
(1) regulations or other guidance to prevent the avoidance
of the purposes of the limitations under this section;
(2) regulations or other guidance to minimize compliance
and record-keeping burdens under this section;
(3) regulations or other guidance providing for waiver of
penalties for failure to deposit amounts in anticipation of the
allowance of the credit allowed under this section;
(4) regulations or other guidance for recapturing the
benefit of credits determined under this section in cases where
there is a subsequent adjustment to the credit determined under
subsection (a); and
(5) regulations or other guidance to ensure that the wages
taken into account under this section conform with the wages
required under section 2.
(f) Transfers to Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust
Fund.--There are hereby appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance
Trust Fund established under section 201 of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 401) amounts equal to the reduction in revenues to the Treasury
by reason of this section (without regard to this subsection). Amounts
appropriated by the preceding sentence shall be transferred from the
general fund at such times and in such manner as to replicate to the
extent possible the transfers which would have occurred to such Trust
Fund had this section not been enacted.
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