Congress removes spousal leave cap, restoring equal FMLA access
H.R. 3404 — FAIR Leave Act · Filed by Sarah McBride (D-DE) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced May 14, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill repeals Section 102(f) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which currently imposes limits on leave for married couples employed by the same employer. The effect is to remove restrictions that prevent spouses working at the same company from taking the full amount of FMLA leave available to them individually.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative function is to expand leave eligibility for a specific class of workers (married couples at the same employer) by removing an existing statutory cap. It is a straightforward eligibility amendment with no hidden mechanisms.
What the text implies
- Employers with high concentrations of married couples may face increased simultaneous leave requests, potentially affecting scheduling and staffing continuity — though FMLA's 12-week annual cap per employee remains in place.
- The repeal applies retroactively to all covered employers under FMLA (50+ employees), creating uniform national eligibility; no phase-in or transition period is specified in the bill text.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Married employees at the same employer gain expanded access to unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical needs. This removes a restriction that previously forced couples to choose between one spouse's leave and the other's, restoring equal treatment under FMLA.
Named in the bill
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, Section 102(f), Married employees, Covered employers (50+ employees)
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
- May 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 14, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and House Committee on House Administration · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on House…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $670,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 50 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Sarah McBride, the sponsor, reported $486,950 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Education Association — $670,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (244 characters) on Aug 18, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 22, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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