WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Chris Dodd (CT) and Representative Lynn Woolsey (CA-6) introduced the Supporting Military Families Act of 2009 today. The bill would extend up to 26 weeks of leave to family members of injured veterans for five years after a veteran leaves service. This bill builds upon the members’ work in the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, which allowed the family or primary caregivers of wounded military personnel to take up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave in order to care for the injured servicemembers. Currently, the Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for employees to care for a newborn or adopted child, their own serious illness, or that of a family member.

The bill is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Edward Kennedy (MA) and Patty Murray (WA) and in the House of Representatives by Representatives George Miller (CA-7) and Jason Altmire (PA-4).

“We must ensure that we care for the health and well-being of our war heroes and veterans, many of whom return from deployment with serious injuries and illnesses,” said Dodd. “We enacted legislation last year to provide extended leave from work to allow family members to take care of their wounded warriors. The legislation we introduce today will ensure that the family members of former military personnel are also afforded the same benefits. We have a responsibility to provide our servicemembers the tools they need to recover from injuries, and this legislation will help us do that.”

“Since a majority of military family members work, they too must balance work and family,” said Woolsey. “This legislation makes important changes to the FMLA military family provisions that were passed last year to ensure that these workers get the time off they need to support servicemembers---and now veterans---in their families during deployment and when they are ill."

The Supporting Military Families Act of 2009 would also extend eligibility for exigency leave to all active duty personnel deployed to a foreign country in order to provide another needed benefit to families who struggle with the challenges of a deployment.

Summary of the Supporting Military Families Act of 2009

BACKGROUND
As a result of the actions of Senators Dodd and Clinton in the Senate and Representatives Miller, Woolsey, and Altmire in the House, the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 110-181) provided up to twenty-six weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave for spouses, children, parents, or next-of-kin of servicemembers who suffer from a combat-related injury or illness, consistent with the eligibility requirements under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Wounded servicemembers returning from combat have often sustained extraordinary trauma and require special assistance during their recovery, as documented by the 2007 President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors. This law also provided exigency leave for servicemembers’ families, which allows the families of deployed servicemembers to take leave to manage their family or personal affairs while the servicemember is deployed.

REASON FOR THIS BILL
The DOL promulgated regulations on these changes in November 2008, and they went into effect in January 2009. The Supporting Military Families Act clarifies these regulations, and extends benefits to veterans in accordance with the needs of this community.

WHAT THIS BILL DOES