[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 35 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 35
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to make available parental
leave benefits to parents following the birth or adoption of a child,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 24 (legislative day, January 3), 2023
Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Romney) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to make available parental
leave benefits to parents following the birth or adoption of a child,
and for other purposes.
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 ``New Parents Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS.
(a) In General.--Title II of the Social Security Act is amended by
inserting after section 218 the following:
``SEC. 219. PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS.
``(a) In General.--Every individual--
``(1) who has--
``(A) not less than 8 quarters of coverage, 4 of
which are credited to calendar quarters during the
calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the
1st month of the benefit period described in subsection
(c) occurs; or
``(B) not less than 12 quarters of coverage; and
``(2) who has filed an application for a parental leave
benefit with respect to a qualified child of the individual,
shall be entitled to a parental leave benefit with respect to such
qualified child.
``(b) Benefit Amount.--Such individual's parental leave benefit
shall be an amount equal to the product of--
``(1) the number of benefit months (not to exceed 3)
selected by the individual in the individual's application for
a parental leave benefit, multiplied by
``(2) an amount equal to the primary insurance amount for
the individual that would be determined under section 215 if--
``(A) the individual had attained age 62 in the
first month of the individual's benefit period; and
``(B) the individual had become entitled to an old-
age insurance benefit under section 202 beginning with
such month.
For the purposes of the preceding sentence, the elapsed years referred
to in section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii) shall not include the year in which the
individual's benefit period begins, or any year thereafter.
``(c) Payment of Benefit.--
``(1) Selection of number of benefit months.--In filing an
application for a parental leave benefit under this section, an
individual shall select the number of months (not to exceed 3)
for which the individual will receive a monthly payment under
such parental leave benefit (in this section referred to as
`benefit months').
``(2) Election of benefit months.--Not later than 14 days
before the start of any month in the benefit period of an
individual entitled to a parental leave benefit, the individual
may elect to treat such month as a benefit month. The number of
months in such benefit period treated as benefit months shall
equal the number selected in the individual's benefit
application, and the Commissioner may designate any month as a
benefit month in any case in which an individual does not elect
to treat a sufficient number of months as benefit months before
the end of the benefit period.
``(3) Amount of monthly payment.--The amount of a monthly
payment made in any benefit month within a benefit period to an
individual entitled to a parental leave benefit shall be an
amount equal to--
``(A) the amount of the parental leave benefit
determined for the individual under subsection (b);
divided by
``(B) the number of benefit months selected by the
individual pursuant to paragraph (1) with respect to
such benefit.
``(4) Definition of benefit period.--For purposes of this
section, the term `benefit period' means, with respect to an
individual entitled to a parental leave benefit with respect to
a qualified child, the 1-year period beginning with the month
after the month in which the birth or adoption of the qualified
child occurs.
``(d) Benefit Application.--
``(1) In general.--The Commissioner shall ensure that the
application for a parental leave benefit--
``(A) includes a notice, clearly written in
language that is easily understandable to the reader,
explaining that--
``(i) failure to submit such proof or
documentation as the Commissioner may require
to demonstrate that the applicant is the parent
of the qualified child shall be subject to
criminal and civil penalties;
``(ii) the full cost to the Trust Funds of
any amount received by an individual as a
parental leave benefit must be repaid through
reductions to old-age insurance benefits
payable to the individual in subsequent months,
or by other means; and
``(iii) entitlement to a parental leave
benefit has no effect on the determination of
an individual's entitlement to leave under the
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; and
``(B) requires an attestation by the individual
submitting the application that--
``(i) the individual expects to be the
parent of a qualified child throughout the
benefit period with respect to such
application;
``(ii) the individual intends to use the
benefit to finance spending more time with the
qualified child at home and away from
employment during the benefit period; and
``(iii) the individual consents to the
terms and conditions specified in the notice
described in subparagraph (A).
``(2) Option to file simultaneous applications.--The
Commissioner of Social Security may establish an option under
which an individual may file an application for a parental
leave benefit under this section with respect to a qualified
child at the same time the individual submits an application
for a social security account number for such qualified child.
``(3) Online availability.--The Commissioner of Social
Security shall, as soon as practicable after the date of
enactment of this section, permit an individual to apply for a
parental leave benefit through an internet website or other
electronic media.
``(e) Fraud Prevention.--
``(1) In general.--The Commissioner of Social Security
shall establish procedures to ensure the prevention of fraud
with respect to applications for parental leave benefits under
this section, including procedures for the submission of such
proof or documentation as the Commissioner may require to
verify the information contained in such an application.
``(2) Enforcement.--In any case in which an individual
willfully, knowingly, and with intent to deceive the
Commissioner of Social Security fails to comply with the
procedures established under paragraph (1), the Commissioner
may impose on such individual, in addition to any other
penalties that may be prescribed by law--
``(A) a civil monetary penalty of not more than
$7,500 for each such failure; and
``(B) an assessment, in lieu of any damages
sustained by the United States because of such failure,
of not more than twice the amount of the cost to the
Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund of
any parental leave benefit paid to the individual.
``(f) Benefit Repayment.--
``(1) In general.--An individual who is paid a parental
leave benefit under this section shall repay the full cost of
such benefit to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
Trust Fund (as such amount is determined by the Commissioner)
in accordance with this subsection.
``(2) Old-age insurance benefit offset.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph
(3), in the case of any individual described in
paragraph (1) who becomes entitled to an old-age
insurance benefit, deductions shall be made from each
monthly payment of such benefit (not to exceed the
first 60 such monthly payments) in such amounts,
subject to subparagraph (B), as the Commissioner of
Social Security shall determine necessary to fully
recover the cost to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors
Insurance Trust Fund of any parental leave benefit paid
to the individual as of the month in which the
individual becomes entitled to an old-age insurance
benefit.
``(B) Notification.--Not later than the beginning
of each calendar year, the Commissioner of Social
Security shall notify each individual whose old-age
insurance benefits are subject to a deduction under
subparagraph (A) during such calendar year of the
amount of the deduction that will be applied to each
monthly payment of such benefits during the calendar
year.
``(3) Alternative increase of retirement age.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of any individual
described in paragraph (1) who becomes entitled to an
old-age insurance benefit, such individual may elect,
at the time of application for such benefit, to be
subject to a retirement age increase in accordance with
this paragraph. Such election shall be irrevocable, and
an individual who makes such an election shall not be
subject to a deduction under paragraph (2) for any
month.
``(B) Retirement age increase.--Notwithstanding
section 216(l)(1), with respect to an individual who
makes an election under subparagraph (A), the
retirement age of such individual shall be deemed to
be--
``(i) the retirement age determined with
respect to the individual under such section;
plus
``(ii) the additional number of months the
Commissioner of Social Security shall determine
necessary to result in the full recovery of the
cost to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors
Insurance Trust Fund of any parental leave
benefit paid to the individual as of the month
in which the individual becomes entitled to an
old-age insurance benefit.
``(C) Increase to earliest entitlement age.--In the
case of an individual who makes an election under
subparagraph (A), notwithstanding subsection (a) of
section 202, no old-age insurance benefit shall be paid
to such individual for any month before the first month
throughout which the individual has attained age 62
plus the additional number of months determined for the
individual under subparagraph (B)(ii).
``(4) Other recovery methods.--In any case in which the
Commissioner of Social Security determines that the cost to the
Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund of a
parental leave benefit paid to an individual cannot be fully
recovered pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3)--
``(A) such benefit shall be deemed, upon the making
of such determination, to be a payment of more than the
correct amount for purposes of section 204; and
``(B) the Commissioner may recover such amounts by
means of any method available to the Commissioner under
such section.
``(5) Projection of repayment amount.--As soon as
practicable after the date of enactment of this section, the
Commissioner shall establish a system to make available through
an internet website or other electronic media to each
individual who is paid a parental leave benefit under this
section, beginning with the first month beginning after the
individual's benefit period the projected amount of the
deduction to be made from each of the first 60 monthly payments
of old-age insurance benefits under paragraph (2), or if the
individual so elects, the additional number of months by which
the individual's retirement age would be increased under
paragraph (3), in order to fully repay the cost to the Federal
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund of any parental
leave benefit paid to the individual, and a description of the
assumptions used by the Commissioner in making such projection.
``(g) Relationship With State Law; Employer Benefits.--
``(1) In general.--This section does not preempt or
supersede any provision of State or local law that authorizes a
State or political subdivision to provide paid parental or
family medical leave benefits similar to the benefits provided
under this section.
``(2) Greater benefits allowed.--Nothing in this Act shall
be construed to diminish the obligation of an employer to
comply with any contract, collective bargaining agreement, or
employment benefit program or plan that provides greater
benefits for leave or other leave rights to individuals than
the benefits for leave or leave rights established under this
Act.
``(h) Sunset.--No application for parental leave benefits under
this section may be filed in any calendar year if the OASDI trust fund
ratio (as defined in section 215(i)) for such calendar year or for the
year following such calendar year is projected, based on the
intermediate projections in the most recent (as of January 1 of such
calendar year) annual report issued under section 201(c)(2), to be less
than 20 percent.
``(i) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) the term `qualified child' means, with respect to an
individual for a benefit period, a biological child or legally
adopted child of the individual (as determined by the
Commissioner of Social Security) who--
``(A) will not attain 18 years of age before the
end of such benefit period; and
``(B) will be residing with, and under the care of,
the individual during the benefit period as determined
by the Commissioner.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Nonpayment provisions.--Section 202 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402) is amended--
(A) in subsection (n)(1)(A), by striking ``under
this section or section 223'' and inserting ``under
this section, section 219, or section 223'';
(B) in subsection (t), in paragraphs (1) and (10),
by striking ``under this section or under section 223''
each place it appears and inserting ``under this
section, under section 219, or under section 223'';
(C) in subsection (u)(1), by striking ``under this
section or section 223'' and inserting ``under this
section, section 219, or section 223''; and
(D) in subsection (x)--
(i) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking
``under this section or under section 223'' and
inserting ``under this section, under section
219, or under section 223''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``under
this section or section 223'' and inserting
``under this section, section 219, or section
223''.
(2) Delayed retirement credits.--Section 202(w) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(w)) is amended by inserting
after ``age 70'' each place it appears the following: ``(or, in
the case of an individual whose retirement age is increased
under section 219(f)(3), age 70 plus the number of months by
which the individual's retirement age is so increased)''.
(3) Voluntary suspension of benefits.--Section
202(z)(1)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
402(z)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking ``the age of 70'' and
inserting ``age 70 (or, in the case of an individual whose
retirement age is increased under section 219(f)(3), age 70
plus the number of months by which the individual's retirement
age is so increased)''.
(4) Number of benefit computation years.--Section
215(b)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(b)(2)(A)) is amended--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``, and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by inserting after clause (ii) the following:
``(iii) in the case of an individual who is entitled to a
parental leave benefit under section 219, by the number of
years equal to one-fifth of such individual's elapsed years
(disregarding any resulting fractional part of a year), but not
by more than 5 years.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply with respect to applications for parental leave benefits filed
after 2023.
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