Republicans, meanwhile, are loath to add an additional tax burden for companies. As an alternative, Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) have introduced an option that would provide up to three months of paid leave limited solely to new parents, which would be funded by dipping into individual Social Security benefits.
This plan would delay employees’ Social Security benefits by up to six months per child, however, effectively forcing employees to choose between benefits they can use now versus ones they may need in the future.
This plan, which is based heavily on a policy proposal form the Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative nonprofit, is designed to offer more flexibility for workers since only those who use the program would have to cover its cost, says IWF’s Hadley Heath Manning.
“It’s completely voluntary. There’s no effect on people who don’t opt in,” she told Vox. Manning also expressed concern at the cost of the FAMILY Act.