Health Reform-Family and Medical Leave Act

Nicole R. Rabner 01/21/98 02:47:20 PM Record Type: Record To: Jennifer L. Klein/OPD/EOP CC: Subject: new FMLA revisions if you haven't edited I played with it some more, in case you haven't yet edited: This memorandum presents options to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for your consideration before a possible announcement on this issue in your State of the Union Address. Expanding FMLA would further enable American workers to take protected time off to spend with a new or adopted child, or for medical emergencies. It would build on your strong record of helping parents meet their responsibilities to their families and their jobs, and, specifically, would complement two pieces of your current child care proposal that also help parents who wish to stay at home: the Early Learning Fund supports home visitation and other parent education programs (for both stay-at-home and working parents); and the Research and Evaluation Fund pays for demonstration projects to test policies to help parents stay at home. As you know, the original rationale of your advisors for urging consideration of this issue was to help inoculate your child care initiative against conservative attack by including a proposal to help parents spend time with their children. Your recent child care announcement has generated overwhelmingly positive support; several leading Republicans, however, have been working on alternative proposals aimed entirely at helping parents to stay at home with their children. While an announcement on FMLA expansion would be an important marker in this area, given the nature of the proposals under active Republican consideration -- such as income splitting, income averaging, and expansion of the $500 per-child tax credit -- it is unlikely that any proposal to expand FMLA could stand up fully to these costly options. We will continue our work with Treasury Department to explore possible tax-related measures to support stay-at-home parents, and recommend that you consider the options presented in this memorandum for FMLA expansion.