Security and Financial Empowerment Act of 2015
Latest action · Mar 23, 2016 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedOct 27, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Security and Financial Empowerment Act of 2015
This bill amends the Violence Against Women Act to require the National Resource Center on Workplace Response provide information and assistance through domestic violence or sexual assault coalitions and survivor service organizations. These organizations and coalitions shall provide resource materials and assistance to employees, employers, and labor organizations to aid in efforts to develop adequate workplace responses to domestic and sexual violence.
In addition, the bill requires employers to provide employees 30 days of leave per year, including 56 hours of earned paid leave, which can be used as a result of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking of an employee or an employee's family member. States may provide nonrecurring short-term emergency benefits to employees using such leave.
Survivors' Employment Sustainability Act
The Survivors' Employment Sustainability Act prohibits employers, public benefit agencies, and insurers from discriminating against survivors of:
- domestic violence,
- dating or sexual violence,
- sexual assault, or
- stalking.
Under the Internal Revenue Code, employers must give unemployment compensation to survivors who are separated from work due to conditions related to the individuals being survivors. The bill amends title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act to require state agency personnel that administer TANF programs to be adequately trained to assist survivors seeking assistance.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must study the barriers survivors encounter to maintain economic security. HHS may arrange financial literacy support for survivors.
The Department of Labor must establish a public outreach campaign.
Cosponsors 44
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Oct 27, 2015 to Nov 14, 2016; 6 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-LA | Cedric L. Richmond | Original | Oct 27, 2015 |
| D-MD | Donna F. Edwards | Original | Oct 27, 2015 |
| D-CA | Doris O. Matsui | Original | Oct 27, 2015 |
| D-MA | Katherine M. Clark | Original | Oct 27, 2015 |
| D-GU | Madeleine Z. Bordallo | Original | Oct 27, 2015 |
| D-CA | Mark Takano | Original | Oct 27, 2015 |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Oct 28, 2015 | |
| D-WI | Gwen Moore | Oct 28, 2015 | |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Oct 28, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Janice Hahn | Oct 28, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Michael M. Honda | Oct 28, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Ted Lieu | Oct 28, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Yvette D. Clarke | Oct 28, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Alcee L. Hastings | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Grace F. Napolitano | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Lois Capps | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Nov 4, 2015 | |
| D-PA | Matt Cartwright | Nov 4, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | Nov 4, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Gregory W. Meeks | Nov 16, 2015 | |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | Nov 16, 2015 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Nov 16, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Eric Swalwell | Nov 18, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Nita M. Lowey | Nov 18, 2015 | |
| D-WI | Ron Kind | Nov 18, 2015 | |
| D-NV | Dina Titus | Dec 1, 2015 | |
| D-VA | Robert C. "Bobby" Scott | Dec 1, 2015 | |
| D-MN | Betty McCollum | Dec 9, 2015 | |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Dec 18, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Frederica S. Wilson | Dec 18, 2015 | |
| D-MA | William R. Keating | Dec 18, 2015 | |
| D-PA | Brendan F. Boyle | Jan 5, 2016 | |
| D-CA | Jackie Speier | Mar 1, 2016 | |
| D-MI | Brenda L. Lawrence | Apr 13, 2016 | |
| D-NC | Alma S. Adams | Sep 8, 2016 | |
| D-TX | Lloyd Doggett | Sep 8, 2016 | |
| D-NM | Michelle Lujan Grisham | Sep 8, 2016 | |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Sep 8, 2016 | |
| D-RI | David N. Cicilline | Nov 14, 2016 | |
| D-FL | Debbie Wasserman Schultz | Nov 14, 2016 | |
| D-OR | Suzanne Bonamici | Nov 14, 2016 |
Committees 4
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Oct 27, 2015 |
| Workforce Protections Subcommittee | Referred Mar 23, 2016 | |
| Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee | Referred Mar 23, 2016 | |
| House | Financial Services Committee | Referred Oct 27, 2015 |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Oct 27, 2015 |
| Work and Welfare Subcommittee | Referred Oct 27, 2015 | |
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Oct 27, 2015 |
| Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee | Referred Nov 23, 2015 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 23, 2016Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
- Mar 23, 2016Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
- Nov 23, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
- Oct 27, 2015Introduced in House
- Oct 27, 2015Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 158, October 27, 2015, page H7254.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R43993 | Unemployment Insurance: Legislative Issues in the 114th Congress | Report | Apr 28, 2017 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2208 | Security and Financial Empowerment Act of 2015 | Related bill | Oct 27, 2015 |
| HR 4198 | Security and Financial Empowerment Act of 2017 | Reintroduced Bill | Oct 31, 2017 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To promote the economic security and safety of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Security and Financial Empowerment Act of 2015
- Short Titles as Introduced for portions of this bill
- Survivors' Employment Sustainability Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
- Assault and harassment offenses
- Civil actions and liability
- Congressional agencies
- Congressional oversight
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Crime prevention
- Crime victims
- Crimes against women
- Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
- Domestic violence and child abuse
- Employee benefits and pensions
- Employee hiring
- Employee leave
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Evidence and witnesses
- Financial literacy
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Health care costs and insurance
- Health programs administration and funding
- Health promotion and preventive care
- Indian social and development programs
- Insurance industry and regulation
- Labor standards
- Library of Congress
- Life, casualty, property insurance
- Poverty and welfare assistance
- Sex offenses
- Unemployment
- Wages and earnings
- Women's employment
- Worker safety and health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 27, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
