The latest draft of the Senate’s tax legislation includes a paid family leave provision, setting the stage for broader reforms like the plan that was put forward earlier this year by the president’s daughter.
A measure in the bill that was proposed by Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer would give companies that offer two weeks of paid leave a tax credit comparable to 25 percent of the removed worker’s salary.
In committee currently, a vote on the bill is expected later this week.
Fischer’s billion-dollar provision does not go as far as the program that Ivanka Trump has been pushing, and it does not come close to the ask that Democrats made.
A measure in the Senate tax bill that was proposed by Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer would give companies that offer their employees two weeks of paid family leave a tax credit comparable to 25 percent of the removed worker’s salary
Trump is seen meeting with GOP members of Congress at the Republican National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill in September of 2016. Fischer is seated at the front
Even more, the paid family leave measure might not even make it out of committee and to a vote in the full Senate.
Its inclusion in the Senate tax-writing committee’s initial mark-up of a reform bill suggests movement on the the issue, however, within the Republican majority.
Ivanka Trump, a senior White House adviser as well as the first daughter, has asked Republican lawmakers to consider six weeks of paid family leave for new and adoptive parents. Her program relies on state unemployment programs and has a price tag of $25 billion.
House Republicans opted not to include it in their 2018 budget or their tax reform bill, in spite of lobbying by Ivanka and the White House.
‘I don’t sense much of an appetite for this proposal in the House,’ a high-ranking Hill staffer told DailyMail.com last month.
Republicans in both chambers have taken up an expansion of the child tax credit that Ivanka campaigned for that’s also been a priority of Florida Republican Marco Rubio.
Rubio cast the $2,000 tax credit in the Senate bill as ‘good news’ and ‘progress’ in a Wednesday morning tweet.
Ivanka Trump is seen leaving her home on Thursday morning. She was not available for comment on Fischer’s plan
The House bill raises from the child tax credit from $1,000 per dependent to $1,600.
‘It is a priority of this administration and it is a legislative priority to ensure that American families can thrive,’ Ivanka Trump said at an end-of-October event promoting the increase on Capitol Hill.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate lauded the president’s daughter at the event for her doggedness on the issue.
Trump has been pushing ‘policies that allow women with children to thrive’ since her speech last summer at the Republican National Convention.
A proposal to subsidize childcare for working families fell by the wayside, but Trump has continued to pursue a federally-mandated paid family leave program.
Fischer’s two-week program falls short of the six weeks of paid leave Ivanka hoped for and the twelve weeks of pay that Democrats are plugging.
It’s more watered down than a plan that Rubio presented, as well.
Ivanka Trump shakes hands with Capitol Police officers as she leaves the U.S. Capitol last week after a pro-tax reform event
Rubio proposed a nonrefundable tax credit of 25 percent for businesses that voluntarily offer four to 12 weeks of paid leave to new parents.
Fischer noted Wednesday on Twitter that her proposition ‘would be the FIRST EVER national #PaidFamilyLeave policy in U.S. history’ if it is successful.
‘By encouraging flexible work arrangements, this proposal would allow workers to take leave on an hourly basis so they could care for a sick child or take an elderly parent to a doctor’s appointment. It also would cover maternity and paternity leave for biological and adoptive parents,’ she said in a formal statement.
Fischer said her approach was designed to help lower-to-middle income and hourly workers.
It explicitly sets a limit on the salary-level of those who would be eligible.
Ivanka Trump was not immediately available to comment on the provision.
A White House official said previously, after Trump’s measure was kept of of the House’s budget: ‘While we are pleasantly surprised by the progress we are making in generating conversation around the issue, we are realistic about the calendar.’