Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0798
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Full Text of HR0798  100th General Assembly

HR0798 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The United States is the only industrialized
3nation in the world that does not mandate or subsidize some
4form of paid parental leave; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Approximately 60 percent of new parents in the
6United States lack access to paid parental leave, placing
7additional financial stress on top of the responsibilities that
8come with a newborn child; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Numerous studies have shown that women who receive
10paid leave are more likely to return to work after having a
11child, and that men who receive paid leave are more likely to
12be engaged in caring for their children; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Studies from McGill University and the University
14of California in Los Angeles show that paid parental leave is
15associated with lower infant mortality rates, increased
16childhood vaccination rates, high school graduation rates, and
17higher average lifetime earnings for the child; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Despite widespread bipartisan support, the main
19impediment to the implementation of a federal paid leave policy
20in the United States is cost; according to the American Action
21Forum, a universal 12-week federal paid parental leave policy,

 

 

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1such as the 2017 FAMILY Act, would cost the Federal Government
2an estimated $85.9 billion annually; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Paid parental leave could be offered by the
4Federal Government at no additional cost by allowing new
5parents to receive some Social Security benefits after the
6arrival of their child in exchange for agreeing to defer the
7collection of their Social Security benefits upon retirement;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, While the length of this deferment would be
10calculated to offset the cost of providing the parental
11benefits, preliminary estimates suggest that in order to
12provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave, new parents would only
13need to defer their benefits upon retirement by six weeks; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Social Security Administration already
15administers programs under which workers may choose to defer
16their benefits; the implementation of such a paid parental
17leave program could be readily administered by existing
18infrastructure; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The benefits of paid parental leave are clear, and
20by allowing new parents to voluntarily defer their Social
21Security retirement benefits, federal paid parental leave can
22be implemented without a negative effect on the budget of the

 

 

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1Federal Government; therefore, be it
 
2    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
3HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
4urge Congress to establish federal paid parental leave at no
5additional cost by allowing new parents to defer collection of
6Social Security benefits upon retirement; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8presented to the members of the Illinois Congressional
9Delegation, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S.
10Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. Speaker of the House
11Paul Ryan, and U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader
12Nancy Pelosi.