{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://houlahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3709", "Defense bill would expand leave for veterans joining federal workforce", "2023-12-12", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "PA", "Chrissy Houlahan", "H001085", "houlahan.house.gov", "houlahan", "https://houlahan.house.gov/press/documentquery.aspx", "page_html", "Originally Published in Federal Times\n\nLawmakers are looking to expand access to leave benefits for service members who transition to the federal workforce in the 2024 defense bill.\n\nThe latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which is expected to pass through the House and Senate this week, includes a provision that would recognize previous military service in calculating family and medical leave for veterans working in the federal government.\n\n\u201cBy crediting time in uniform towards paid parental leave for the federal government, we will help retain the best and brightest America has to offer,\u201d said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., in a statement Tuesday. Lawmakers have said family-friendly policies help ensure the public sector has competitive benefits to attract and retain employees amid workforce shortages in cyber and HR.\n\nOther supporters of the policy include Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Chris Smith, R-N.J.\n\nWith the defense bill teed up for passage in Congress, President Joe Biden has signaled he will sign the measure into law later this month. If it clears both steps with the provision, a federal employee with at least a year of active military service will have met requirements for the Family and Medical Leave Act.\n\nThe FMLA, which passed in 1993, provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave without pay for the birth, adoption or foster of a child, a serious health condition or caregiver leave. Health insurance coverage is also retained during that time. To access that benefit, federal workers have to be in their position for at least a year.\n\nPreviously, service members were not eligible to credit their prior military time for FMLA if they had transitioned to the government. However, active duty service by members of the National Guard or Reserves is counted.\n\nFederal agencies employ more than half a million veterans, which is to say about one in every four civil servants has prior or existing military experience, according to the government\u2019s HR agency. In a memo to agency leaders in February, the Biden administration urged the creation and support of policies that would grant leave during employees\u2019 first year of work, when they may not yet have accrued enough time to be eligible for other benefits.\n\n\u201cEvery American worker deserves access to family and medical leave, and the provision we secured in the NDAA will recognize time in military service like time in the federal civil service,\u201d said Rep. Beyer in a statement.", 1, "2026-04-08T14:14:11Z", "2026-04-08T14:23:06Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://houlahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3709"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8660128116607666, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}