Maloney and Miller Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Increase Access to Paid Leave for Federal Employees

Statement

Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Committee Member Carol Miller (R-WV) led a group of bipartisan members in introducing H.R. 5885, the Federal Employee Parental Leave Technical Correction Act, to ensure even more federal employees receive 12 weeks of paid leave for the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child.

"The federal government is our nation's largest employer, and it should be a model employer for the nation," said Chairwoman Maloney. "Because we passed the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act earlier this year, more than 2 million federal employees received a guarantee of 12 weeks paid leave for the birth, fostering, or adoption of a child. The legislation we are introducing today will ensure that even more federal employees no longer need to choose between their paychecks or being home with their new child."

"As a mother, grandmother, and small business owner, I understand the pressures of balancing professional and family life. The legislation introduced today fills remaining gaps in the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act, and is a crucial step in ensuring federal employees are afforded the flexibility needed to start a family," said Congresswoman Miller. "With this continued bipartisan cooperation, we can provide working families with resources to care for their young children, in order to achieve a fulfilling work-life balance in our modern economy."

In December 2019, Congress passed and the President signed the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act with language based on Chairwoman Maloney's H.R. 1534, the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act, to provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave to federal employees to care for the birth, fostering, or adoption of a child.

President Trump applauded this legislation during his State of the Union address when he said, "as we support America's moms and dads, I was recently proud to sign the law providing new parents in the federal workforce paid family leave, serving as a model for the rest of the country."

The Federal Employee Parental Leave Technical Correction Act would add employees who, because of statutory framing, were inadvertently not included, specifically:

Federal Aviation Administration employees;
Certain Veterans Affairs (VA) employees;
District of Columbia Courts and Public Defender Services employees;
Employees of the Executive Office of the President and White House employees;
Employees who work as health providers at the VA;
Non-screener personnel at the Transportation Security Administration; and
Article I judges, including bankruptcy and magistrate judges.
The bill is supported by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union, and National Active and Retired Federal Employees.

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