Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MESSMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an issue affecting both families and businesses in Indiana and across the United States, which is the expensive, but essential, financial support workers need to provide care for their young children and elderly parents.

Current law discourages employers from helping their workers pay for onsite childcare or elderly dependent care because of the unreasonable pay calculations that increase costs and burdensome regulations for the company.

This guidance is so outdated. It was enacted in 1938, and we all know things have come a long way since then when families did not use daycare services for their little ones and elderly parents lived with their adult children until death.

The current mandates of the Fair Labor Standards Act related to dependent care drive up costs for businesses through unreasonable pay calculations.

These expensive requirements naturally remove the incentive for many companies to provide this important coverage for their employees. It is high time we eradicate this unwarranted red tape and let businesses invest in the needs of their employees without punishing the company for doing just that.

That is why I introduced the Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act. Hoosiers and all Americans must not be forced to choose between caring for a loved one and working outside of the home.

Businesses deserve to be profitable but are also entitled to have the most qualified workers to support their company's growth. A company must be rewarded and not penalized for making critical benefits available to their employees, which, in turn, helps the company recruit the best and the brightest to their workforce.

The Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act lowers costs, cuts red tape, and better serves American companies by making profamily benefits achievable. Passing this legislation contributes to our goal of returning affordability to the American people and the U.S. workforce.

The American taxpayer needs our help now more than ever to get our economy back on track, and this bill will be one small step in making that dream a reality.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his support on H.R. 2270.

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