Early Saturday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” (HR 6201). The bill imposes new paid leave provisions on employers, provides tax credits to help offset the amounts paid, and expands benefits under federal and state unemployment insurance laws to alleviate the burden of employee layoffs.

In a sign of how fluid the situation is, House leaders are expected to pass a technical corrections bill later today before sending the bill to the Senate. Following a meeting on Tuesday with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Senate is expected to take up the House bill. Changes to the House bill are anticipated, and a final package is expected to pass Congress and be signed by the president some time this week that will go into effect 15 days after enactment.

One of the primary concerns of the business community with regard to the paid leave programs is the way they are funded. HR 6201 includes a 100% retroactive tax credit, but the process for reimbursement is likely to cause significant and immediate cash flow problems for many businesses over the next several weeks. ASA will be asking Senate leadership to consider alternative funding mechanisms that take this into account.

ASA will publish an analysis of the current version of the bill later today. Once the final version of HR 6201 is signed into law, ASA will provide members with additional details.