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 | 3 | | nation in the world that does not mandate or subsidize some | 4 | | form of paid parental leave; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Approximately 60 percent of new parents in the | 6 | | United States lack access to paid parental leave, placing | 7 | | additional financial stress on top of the responsibilities that | 8 | | come with a newborn child; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Numerous studies have shown that women who receive | 10 | | paid leave are more likely to return to work after having a | 11 | | child, and that men who receive paid leave are more likely to | 12 | | be engaged in caring for their children; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Studies from McGill University and the University | 14 | | of California in Los Angeles show that paid parental leave is | 15 | | associated with lower infant mortality rates, increased | 16 | | childhood vaccination rates, high school graduation rates, and | 17 | | higher average lifetime earnings for the child; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Despite widespread bipartisan support, the main | 19 | | impediment to the implementation of a federal paid leave policy | 20 | | in the United States is cost; according to the American Action | 21 | | Forum, a universal 12-week federal paid parental leave policy, |
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| 1 | | such as the 2017 FAMILY Act, would cost the Federal Government | 2 | | an estimated $85.9 billion annually; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Paid parental leave could be offered by the | 4 | | Federal Government at no additional cost by allowing new | 5 | | parents to receive some Social Security benefits after the | 6 | | arrival of their child in exchange for agreeing to defer the | 7 | | collection of their Social Security benefits upon retirement; | 8 | | and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, While the length of this deferment would be | 10 | | calculated to offset the cost of providing the parental | 11 | | benefits, preliminary estimates suggest that in order to | 12 | | provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave, new parents would only | 13 | | need to defer their benefits upon retirement by six weeks; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The Social Security Administration already | 15 | | administers programs under which workers may choose to defer | 16 | | their benefits; the implementation of such a paid parental | 17 | | leave program could be readily administered by existing | 18 | | infrastructure; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The benefits of paid parental leave are clear, and | 20 | | by allowing new parents to voluntarily defer their Social | 21 | | Security retirement benefits, federal paid parental leave can | 22 | | be implemented without a negative effect on the budget of the |
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| 1 | | Federal Government; therefore, be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 3 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 4 | | urge Congress to establish federal paid parental leave at no | 5 | | additional cost by allowing new parents to defer collection of | 6 | | Social Security benefits upon retirement; and be it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 | | presented to the members of the Illinois Congressional | 9 | | Delegation, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. | 10 | | Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. Speaker of the House | 11 | | Paul Ryan, and U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader | 12 | | Nancy Pelosi.
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