Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Explainer: Republican lawmakers unveil paid family leave plan
Explainer: Republican lawmakers unveil paid family leave plan
Jun 4, 2025 3:15 PM

What just happened?

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Missouri) re-introduced a bill yesterday (slightly modified from one from last year) that would allow parents to use their Social Security benefits to provide paid parental leave benefits following the birth or adoption of a child.

“Our proposal would enact paid family leave in America without increasing taxes, without placing new mandates on small businesses,” Rubio said in a news conference.

Earlier this month, Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced similar legislation which also provides family leave benefits through the Social Security system. (Unless otherwise stated, the details below are from the Rubio-Wagner plan.)

How would it work?

Parents would start the process by filing an application (available online) with the Social Security Administration (SSA) and clarifying when they anticipate giving birth to or ing the parent of a child. Upon verification of the parent’s eligibility, SSA would notify parents of their expected eligibility for the parental leave benefit. After the birth or adoption of the child, approved parents would then provide SSA with additional documentation, and upon verification SSA will remit the parental leave benefit. The benefit would be delivered in one month, two months or three monthly payments of equivalent size, depending on the amount of benefit claimed.

The benefit is transferrable between parents in a household, which means one parent could use the benefit for four weeks, and the other could use it for four weeks. The benefit can also be claimed if parents continue to work, either full or part-time.

Parents taking the option will delay the date at which they begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits by about three to six months per benefit taken, as determined by the Social Security Administration each year. Alternatively, they could also have the sum gradually deducted from benefits over the first five years of retirement.

How much would parents receive?

A summary of the bill provided to the Washington Post says nearly all parents earning less than the $60,000 median family e would receive leave pay equal to about two-thirds of their wages.

Who would be eligible?

To be eligible, parents would need to have a minimum of four quarters of coverage during the 4-quarter period preceding the birth or adoption of their child; and 8 quarters of coverage preceding the birth or adoption of their child; or 12 quarters of coverage preceding the birth or adoption of their child.

Would the benefit be taxable?

Yes. The leave benefit would be taxable, as are regular Social Security payments.

What is the difference between the Rubio-Wagner plan and the Ernst-Lee plan?

The primary difference is that the Rubio-Wagner bill would allow parents to choose to keep working and use the extra funds to pay for expenses, such as childcare.

Is there already a law requiring family leave?

The federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows individuals to be eligible for unpaid leave if their employer has more than 50 employees and the person has worked at pany for at least 12 months. But there is no requirement pany’s pay for such leave, and most corporations do not. (According to estimates from theCongressional Research Service, only 13 percent of private-sector employees have access to paid family leave through their employers.)

Who supports the bill?

In his announcement of the bill, Rubio was joined by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Reps. Ann Wagner (R-Missouri) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). President Donald Trump endorsed the idea in his recent State of the Union, and his daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump is a strong supporter.

The Rubio plan from last year was endorsed by social and religious groups such as the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) and the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), as well as by the vast majority of Americans.

Many Congressional Democrats, however, oppose the bill because it is paid for through an earned benefit. They prefer full family leave to be paid through taxes or imposed on employers through federal mandates.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Would school choice help conservatives recover from the ‘cultural massacre’?
The Spectator Australia published an article Monday claiming that the “culture war” between conservative and liberal values is, in reality, a “cultural massacre.” The carnage is evident in the numbers, specifically in education: in the United Kingdom, conservatives make up only seven percent of primary school teachers and only eight percent of secondary school teachers. In the United States, conservatives often focus on the lack of intellectual diversity on university campuses. They are not wrong to worry. In September, the...
The ‘end’ of work
In the Q&A part of a session I led at last month’s Acton University on Abraham Kuyper and Leo XIII(based on this recent volume), I was asked about specific areas where the two figures have something concrete to contribute today. One theme I highlighted was to their shared emphasis on the centrality and dignity of human work. Today there is a great deal of anxiety over the future of work in an age of increasing globalization, automation, and structural changes...
Macron’s African statement ignores human ingenuity
A French media outlet has captured an otherwise ment from French President Emmanuel Macron that Africa is overpopulated. When asked about a possible “Marshall Plan for Africa,” Macron listed among the continent’s current problems the need for “demographic transition,” lamenting the fact that some African “countries still haveseven to eight children per woman.” His concerns seem particularly worth examining today on World Population Day. During a July 8 press conference about the G20 summit, Macron began by naming truly concerning...
Reading ‘Democracy in America’ (Part 2): What did Tocqueville mean by ‘equality of condition’?
This is the second part in a series on how to read Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America.” Read Part 1 and follow the entire series here. As we begin our study of Democracy in America, we bear in mind that the work’s distinguished author, Alexis de Tocqueville, blessed us with a clear, concise introduction to the two-volume work. The introduction is the most important chapter of the work in terms ing to grips with Tocqueville’s overall argument and purpose...
Is it cleaner to trade pollution?
Note: This is post #40 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. In an effort to reduce pollution, the government tried two policy prescriptions under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, notes Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution University. The mand and control—mandated that each power plant lower its pollution by a determined amount. However, different firms face different cost curves and, because information is dispersed, policymakers don’t always know those costs. The second policy prescription—tradable pollution permits—empowered firms...
Dorothy Sayers, school choice, and long run student success
Today’s Wall Street Journal article on education choice, “New Evidence on School Vouchers,” might look oddly familiar for those of us who have read Dorothy Sayers’ The Lost Tools of Learning. The WSJ piece refers to two new studies that investigated student performance in states with voucher programs: Louisiana and Indiana. In Louisiana, a state with a program that allows for vouchers for private schools, 7,100 students attend private or religious schools. Meanwhile, over 34,000 students utilize Indiana’s statewide voucher...
How ordinary economic thinking helps constrain political chaos
In an age where chaos and cronyism seem to be the defining characteristics of our politics, and where the political system is increasingly decried as being “rigged” by populists from both the left and right, the time seems ripe for a renewed focus on political constraints. When such concerns arise, we are quick to point back to the U.S. Constitution, and rightly so. Yet economist Peter Boettke sees another guide that can also offer some value. For Boetkke, our politics...
Pulling out of Paris agreement is a ‘market distortion’: European leader
The G20 summit in Hamburg e to an end, and the dominant story remains America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. It’s been less reported that some European leaders have implied that the EU should take economic revenge on the U.S. because – in their words – limiting government intervention in the economy is a “market distortion.” Germany currently holds the presidency of the G20 summit, with Chancellor Angela Merkel overseeing the violence-plagued event. The final declaration notes the U.S....
Can health care be left to the free market?
In one of the worst opinion pieces published in the New York Times in recent memory, Farzon A. Nahvi, an emergency medicine physician, argues the free market cannot provide health care because some patients arrive at the hospital unconscious: As an emergency medicine physician in a busy urban hospital, I have patients brought to me unconscious several times a day. Often, they are found down in the street by a good Samaritan who called 911 on their behalf. We are...
American students: Raw material or individual persons?
Catherine Pakaluk The quality of K-12 education in America is a major concern. This is largely because, despite marginally high spending per student, the United States does pete very well against other countries on standardized tests. The economics of education particularly interested Catherine Pakaluk, who holds a doctorate in economics from Harvard and is an assistant professor of economics at Catholic University of America. Pakaluk gave a lecture, “Economics of Education,” on June 23 at Acton University. In this talk,...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved