In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden highlighted the more than three hundred bipartisan bills he has signed into law since becoming president. He also emphasized the need to continue with important bipartisan legislation, including laws enacting paid family and medical leave, immigration reform, police reform, and ending non-compete agreements.
Biden’s State of the Union follows his February 2nd press conference marking the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). At that press conference, Biden laid out a national program for paid family and medical leave for employees, beginning with federal agencies.
Biden called on Congress to enact a pathway to citizenship for the “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Roughly 600,000 of these individuals participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which continues to be the subject of legal challenges. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the DACA program is illegal but allowed the program to remain in place as an appeal moves forward.
The Tyre Nichols case in Memphis, Tennessee, in which a 29-year-old Black man died from injuries inflicted by police, has renewed the push for police reform. Biden called for ensuring that law enforcement officers have the training they need, holding them to higher standards, and helping them keep everyone safe.
Biden announced the following objectives in his State of the Union address:
- New standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in the U.S.;
- Increased taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans making more than $400,000 per year;
- Enactment of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act;
- Restoration of the full child tax credit;
- Salary increases for public school teachers;
- Access to preschool for three and four-year-olds;
- Job training and job placement for veterans and their spouses returning to civilian life;
- Connecting high school students to career opportunities starting in high school; and
- Providing two years of community college for all Americans.
HBL has experience in all areas of benefits and employment law, offering a comprehensive solution to all your business benefits and HR/employment needs. We help ensure you are in compliance with the complex requirements of ERISA and the IRS code, as well as those laws that impact you and your employees. Together, we reduce your exposure to potential legal or financial penalties. Learn more by calling 470-571-1007.
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