Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program; funding by employee and employer taxes.

Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. Entitlesindividuals to a family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) benefit payment foreach month they are engaged in qualified caregiving, not to exceed 60 qualifiedcaregiving days per year. Qualified caregiving means an activity, exceptregular employment, for a reason an individual is entitled to leave under thefederal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Benefits would amount to 66percent of an individual's monthly wages, based on highest annual earnings fromthe prior three years, up to a capped monthly amount, and would be indexed tothe national average wage index. If a person takes the maximum number of days,the benefits would range from a minimum benefit of $580 to a maximum benefit of$4,000 per month in the program's first year. To be eligible for benefits, anindividual is required to (i) be insured for disability insurance benefitsunder the Social Security Act at the time his application is filed; (ii) haveearned income from employment during the 12 months before filing theapplication; (iii) have filed an application for a FMLI benefit; and (iv) havebeen engaged in qualified caregiving, or anticipate being so engaged, duringthe 90-day period before the application is filed or within 30 days thereafter.The measure establishes the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund andrequires FMLI benefit payments to be made only from this Fund. A tax of 0.2percent is imposed on the wages received by every individual, and an excise taxof 0.2 percent of the wages paid in any calendar year by the employer withrespect to their employment is imposed on employers. The measure has a delayedeffective date of January 1, 2021.