2. “Family leave" means leave from employment, self-employment, or
availability for employment for the birth or adoptive placement of a new child; to care
for a child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling who
has a serious health condition; or because of any qualifying exigency arising out of
the fact that the family member is on covered active duty or has been notified of an
impending call or order to covered active duty.

3. “Medical leave" means leave from employment when a covered individual
has a serious health condition that makes the individual unable to perform his or her
employment duties, leave from self-employment when a covered individual has a
serious health condition that makes the individual unable to perform the duties of
his or her self-employment, or leave from availability for employment when a
covered individual has a serious health condition that makes the individual unable
to perform the duties of any suitable employment.

Under the bill, the amount of family or medical leave insurance benefits for a
week for which those benefits are payable is as follows:

1. For a covered individual who earned less than 30 percent of the state annual
median wage in the calendar year before the individual's application year, 95 percent
of that individual's average weekly earnings.

2. For a covered individual who earned at least 30 percent, but less than 50
percent, of the state annual median wage in the calendar year before the individual's
application year, 90 percent of that individual's average weekly earnings.

3. For a covered individual who earned at least 50 percent, but less than 80
percent, of the state annual median wage in the calendar year before the individual's
application year, 85 percent of that individual's average weekly earnings.

4. For a covered individual who earned at least 80 percent of the state annual
median wage in the calendar year before the individual's application year, 66 percent
of that individual's average weekly earnings.

In addition, the benefits payable cannot exceed $1,000 per week, adjusted
according to the consumer price index.

In addition, the bill provides that family or medical leave insurance benefits are
payable beginning on the sixth day of family or medical leave, except that if a covered
individual uses ten or more days of family or medical leave insurance benefits in an
application year, those benefits are also payable with respect to the first five days of
family or medical leave. The bill also provides that no family or medical leave
insurance benefits are payable for any period of family or medical leave in which a
covered individual is substituting paid leave of any other type provided by his or her
employer or in which a covered individual is receiving unemployment benefits or
worker's compensation benefits. Finally, with respect to family or medical leave
insurance benefits, the bill provides that those benefits are exempt from state income
taxation.

Beginning on January 1, 2023, the bill requires each individual employed in
this state, including an individual employed by the state, and each self-employed
individual who elects coverage under the family and medical leave insurance
program to contribute to the trust fund a percentage of his or her wages from
employment or income from self-employment determined by DWD in consultation
with the commissioner of insurance that is sufficient to finance the payments of
benefits under the program and the administration of the program. The bill requires
DWD to collect those contributions in the same manner as DWD collects
contributions to the unemployment reserve fund under current law.

The bill does the following:

1. Allows a covered individual whose claim for family or medical leave
insurance benefits is denied by DWD to request a hearing on the denial and requires
DWD to process the request for hearing in the same manner that requests for
hearings on unemployment insurance claims are processed under current law.

2. Allows DWD to seek repayment of family or medical leave insurance benefits
that are paid erroneously or as a result of willful misrepresentation in the same
manner that DWD recovers erroneous payments of unemployment insurance
benefits under current law or to waive recovery of an erroneous payment of those
benefits if the erroneous payment was not the fault of the person who received it and
if requiring repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience.

3. Provides that if an individual willfully makes a false statement or
representation, or willfully fails to disclose a material fact, to obtain family or
medical leave insurance benefits, the individual is disqualified from receiving those
benefits for one year after the date of the disqualification.

Finally, the bill allows a city, village, town, or county to enact and enforce
ordinances requiring employers to provide leave from employment to their
employees if those ordinances are more generous than those provided under state
law.

Because this bill relates to an exemption from state or local taxes, it may be
referred to the Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions for a report to be printed
as an appendix to the bill.

SB596,5,22 20.445 (1) (w) Family and medical leave insurance trust fund. From the family
3and medical leave insurance trust fund, all moneys deposited in that fund under s.
4103.105 (8) for the payments of family or medical leave insurance benefits under s.

1103.105 (3) (c) and for the administration of the family or medical leave insurance
2program under s. 103.105.

SB596,5,9 625.52 Family and medical leave insurance trust fund. There is created
7a separate nonlapsible trust fund designated as the family and medical leave
8insurance trust fund, to consist of all moneys deposited in that fund under s. 103.105
9(8).

SB596,5,1411 71.05 (6) (b) 54. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023, any
12amount of family or medical leave insurance benefits received by a covered
13individual, as defined in s. 103.105 (1) (d), in the taxable year to which the
14subtraction relates.