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Breaking: Families First Coronavirus Response Act Clears Congress


Minutes ago, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act cleared Congress, following this afternoon's 90 - 8 vote by the Senate approving the legislation.  The bill is now headed to President Donald Trump's desk for signature, which is expected shortly.

Readers will recall that the U.S. House had approved a version of the bill early Saturday morning, with a 363 - 40 vote in favor of passage (with one "present" vote from Michigan Representative Justin Amash and 26 no votes.)   Before the Senate voted, however, changes were made to the legislation.  Of note, two weeks of paid sick leave will be provided to many workers in the country working at companies with less than 500 employees.  (The pay rate is capped at $511/day.)  As well, paid family leave of up to twelve weeks will only be offered to parents caring for children that are home from school because of closures.  (A previous version of the legislation had this additional leave being offered to all workers that received paid sick leave in the original version.)  Small businesses with less than 50 employees will not be required to pay for sick leave or family leave at the discretion of the labor department.

Efforts to further scale back the paid leave, as originally drafted in the language of the bill, fell short after Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson's amendment failed to garner enough support.  (The Johnson Amendment had approximately 50 votes in favor of amending the legislation; however 60 votes are required to carry the amendment.)

At this time, I would expect President Trump to sign the bill into law, sooner rather than later.  Given that the President has indicated his support for the measure in prior days (and likely hungry for some good news), readers should expect to see the President put pen to paper quickly.


For additional information:  https://www.newsweek.com/families-first-coronavirus-bill-sent-senate-stripped-back-sick-leave-benefits-1492958

For additional information as to the legislation:  https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6201

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