,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bai  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,january #bd1       
#bjai,mr4 ,brown 7for himself and ,mr4  
,durbin7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,finance  ,a ,,bill  ,to 
amend the ,internal ,revenue ,code of   
#aihf to impose an excise tax on        
employers with low-wage employees4  #a4 
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,corporate ,freeloader ,fee ,act4   
#b4 ,imposition of excise tax on        
corporations with low-wage employees    
7a7 ,in general ,subtitle ,d of the     
,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is    
amended by adding after chapter #cf the 
following new chapter3  #cg ,corporate  
responsibility tax  ,sec4 #deaa4        
,imposition of tax4  #deaa4 ,imposition 
of tax  7a7 ,in general ,in the case of 
an applicable employer who employs a    
low-wage employee during the calendar   
year1 there is imposed a tax equal to   
the applicable percentage of the        

aggregate amount of wages paid by the   
applicable employer with respect to     
employment of all employees of the      
employer during the calendar year4  7b7 
,applicable employer2 low-,wage employee
 ,for purposes of this section-- 7#a7   
,applicable employer  7,a7 ,in general  
,the term applicable employer means1    
with respect to any calendar year1 any  
employer who was required to make       
deposits of taxes under chapters #ba and
 #bd 7or who would have been required to
 make such deposits if the rules of     
subparagraph 7,c7 applied for such      
purposes7 by the close of the next day  
for periods aggregating more than #ahj  
days during the preceding calendar year4
  7,b7 ,exception ,such term shall not  
include a ,federal or other governmental
 entity or a church or qualified church 
organization 7as such terms are defined 
in section #caba7w77#c774  7,c7         
,aggregation rules ,the rules of        
subsections 7b71 7c71 7m71 and 7o7 of   
section #dad shall apply for purposes of

 this section1 except that in applying  
subsections 7b7 and 7c7 of such section1
 the phrase more than #ej percent shall 
be substituted for the phrase more than 
#hj percent each place it appears4  7#b7
 ,low-wage employee  7,a7 ,in general   
,the term low-wage employee means any   
employee who receives wages from an     
applicable employer during the calendar 
year in an amount less than #bah percent
 of the ,federal poverty line 7within   
the meaning of section #baaj7;c77#e7 of 
the ,social ,security ,act7 for an      
individual4 ,rules similar to the rules 
of section #cf;,b7d77#c77;,b7 shall     
apply for purposes of this subparagraph4
  7,b7 ,employees employed for less than
 entire year ,in the case of any        
employee employed by an applicable      
taxpayer for less than the entire       
calendar year1 the amount described in  
subparagraph 7,a7 shall be reduced by an
 amount which bears the same ratio to   
such amount as--  7i7 the number of     
weeks during the calendar year in which 

such individual was not an employee of  
such applicable employer1 bears to  7ii7
 #eb4  7c7 ,applicable percentage ,for  
purposes of subsection 7a7--  7#a7 ,in  
general  7,a7 ,determination ,the       
applicable percentage shall be          
determined as follows3 ,in the case of  
an applicable employer with a low-wage  
employee ratio of3,the applicable       
percentage is3#be percent or less#be    
percent ,greater than #be percent1 but  
not greater than #ej percent #ej        
percent,greater than #ej percent1 but   
not greater than #ge percent#ge         
percent,greater than #ge percent#ajj    
percent4  7,b7 ,low-wage employee ratio 
,for purposes of subparagraph 7,a71 the 
low-wage employee ratio with respect to 
any applicable employer is the ratio    
7expressed as a percentage7 of--  7i7   
the number of low-wage employees        
employed by the applicable employer     
during the calendar year1 to  7ii7 the  
total number of individuals employed by 
the applicable employer during such     

calendar year4  7#b7 ,health and        
retirement offset  7,a7 ,in general ,in 
the case of an applicable employer who  
meets the requirements of subparagraph  
7,b71 the applicable percentage shall be
 reduced 7but not below zero7 by #be    
percentage points4  7,b7 ,requirements  
,an applicable employer meets the       
requirements of this subparagraph if    
such applicable employer-- 7i7 offers to
 all full-time low-wage employees 7and  
their spouse and dependents7 the        
opportunity to enroll for all months    
during the calendar year in minimum     
essential coverage under an eligible    
employer sponsored health plan 7as      
defined in section #ejjj;,a7f77#b77 for 
which--  7,i7 the plan's share of the   
allowed costs of benefits provided under
 the plan is not less than #fj percent  
of such costs1 and  7,,ii7 the required 
contribution 7within the meaning of     
section #ejjj;,a7e77#a77;,b77 of the    
employee does not exceed the applicable 
percentage of the annual wages paid to  

the employee by the applicable employer1
 and  7ii7 meets the retirement plan    
requirements of subsection 7d7 for all  
employees who are low-wage employees4   
,for purposes of clause 7i77,,ii71 the  
applicable percentage is the percentage 
in effect under section                 
#cf;,b7b77#b77;,b77ii7 for the plan     
year4  7d7 ,retirement plan requirements
  7#a7 ,in general ,the requirements of 
this subsection are met for any calendar
 year with respect to an employee of the
 applicable employer who is a low-wage  
employee if the employee is eligible to 
participate in one or more applicable   
eligible retirement plans maintained by 
the applicable employer 7or any member  
of the group of employers treated as an 
applicable employer under subsection    
7b77#a77;,c77 for a plan year ending    
with or within the calendar year4  7#b7 
,applicable eligible retirement plan    
,for purposes of this subsection1 the   
term applicable eligible retirement plan
 means an eligible retirement plan      

which1 with respect to the plan year    
described in paragraph 7#a71 is either--
  7,a7 a defined contribution plan which
 requires the employer to make          
nonelective contributions of at least #e
 percent of the compensation of the     
employee1 or  7,b7 a defined benefit    
plan--  7i7 with respect to which the   
accrued benefit of the employee derived 
from employer contributions1 when       
expressed as an annual retirement       
benefit1 is not less than the product   
of--  7,i7 the lesser of #b percent     
multiplied by the employee's years of   
service 7determined under the rules of  
paragraphs 7#d71 7#e71 and 7#f7 of      
section #daa7;a77 with the employer or  
#bj percent1 multiplied by  7,,ii7 the  
employee's final average pay1 or  7ii7  
which is an applicable defined benefit  
plan 7as defined in section             
#daa7;a77#ac77;,b77--  7,i7 which meets 
the interest credit requirements of     
section #daa7;b77#e77;,b77i7 with       
respect to the plan year1 and  7,,ii7   

under which the employee receives a pay 
credit for the plan year which is not   
less than #e percent of compensation4   
7#c7 ,definitions and special rules ,for
 purposes of this subsection-- 7,a7     
,eligible retirement plan ,the term     
eligible retirement plan has the meaning
 given such term by section             
#djb7;c77#h77;,b71 except that in the   
case of an account or annuity described 
in clause 7i7 or 7ii7 thereof1 such term
 shall only include an account or       
annuity which is a simplified employee  
pension 7as defined in section #djh7k774
  7,b7 ,final average pay ,for purposes 
of paragraph 7#b77;,b77i77,,ii71 final  
average pay shall be determined using   
the period of consecutive years 7not    
exceeding #e7 during which the employee 
had the greatest compensation from the  
applicable employer4  7,c7 ,alternative 
plan designs ,the ,secretary may        
prescribe regulations for an applicable 
employer to meet the requirements of    
this subsection through a combination of

 defined contribution plans or defined  
benefit plans described in paragraph    
7#a7 or through a combination of both   
such types of plans4  7,d7 ,plans must  
meet requirements without taking into   
account ,social ,security and similar   
contributions and benefits ,a rule      
similar to the rule of section #daf7;e7 
shall apply4  7,e7 ,certain employees   
may be excluded ,for purposes of        
paragraph 7#b77;,b77ii71 an employer    
shall not be treated as failing to meet 
the requirements of this subsection with
 respect to employees--  7i7 who have   
not attained the age of #ba before the  
close of a plan year1  7ii7 who have    
less than #a year of service with the   
employer as of any day during the plan  
year1  7iii7 who are covered under an   
agreement which the ,secretary of ,labor
 finds to be a collective bargaining    
agreement if there is evidence that the 
benefits covered under the plan were the
 subject of good faith bargaining       
between employee representatives and the

 employer1 or  7iv7 who are described in
 section #daj7;b77#c77;,c7 7relating to 
nonresident aliens working outside the  
,united ,states74  7e7 ,definitions and 
special rules ,for purposes of this     
section-- 7#a7 ,wages ,the term wages   
has the meaning given such term by      
section #caba7;a7 7determined without   
regard to any dollar limitation         
contained in such section74  7#b7       
,allocation of tax ,the ,secretary shall
 prescribe such rules as necessary for  
the allocation of the tax imposed by    
subsection 7a7 among different entities 
treated as a single employer under      
subsection 7b77#a77;,c74  4  7b7        
,conforming amendment ,the table of     
chapters of the ,internal ,revenue ,code
 of #aihf is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to chapter #cf the    
following new item3  ,chapter           
#cg--;,corporate responsibility tax  4  
7c7 ,effective date ,the amendments made
 by this section shall apply to calendar
 years beginning after the date of the  

enactment of this ,act4