108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 17
To provide economic security for America's workers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 7, 2003
Mr. RANGEL (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HOYER, Mr. MENENDEZ,
Mr. SPRATT, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. STARK, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MCDERMOTT,
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. NEAL of
Massachusetts, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.
ACEVEDO-VILA, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BACA, Mr. BAIRD, Ms.
BALDWIN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr.
BOUCHER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. BROWN
of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CASE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN,
Mr. CLAY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS
of Illinois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DINGELL,
Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ETHERIDGE,
Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts,
Mr. FROST, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr.
HOLDEN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr.
LARSEN of Washington, Ms. LEE, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs.
JONES of Ohio, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island,
Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. KIND, Mr. KUCINICH, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York,
Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MEEKS
of New York, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California,
Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. MOORE, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. NADLER, Ms.
NORTON, Mr. OBEY, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL,
Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD,
Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SANDERS,
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER,
Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. TIERNEY,
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Ms. WATSON,
Mr. WEINER, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To provide economic security for America's workers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Emergency Unemployment Compensation
Act of 2003'.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Extension of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act
of 2002.
Sec. 3. Entitlement to additional weeks of temporary extended unemployment
compensation.
Sec. 4. Application of revised rate of insured unemployment.
Sec. 5. Additional TEUC extended benefit period trigger.
Sec. 6. Additional weeks of benefits for workers in high unemployment States.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF THE TEMPORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACT
OF 2002.
(a) SIX-MONTH EXTENSION OF PROGRAM- Section 208 of the Temporary Extended
Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 30) is
amended to read as follows:
`SEC. 208. APPLICABILITY.
`(a) IN GENERAL- Subject to subsection (b), an agreement entered into under
this title shall apply to weeks of unemployment--
`(1) beginning after the date on which such agreement is entered into; and
`(2) ending before July 1, 2003.
`(b) TRANSITION- In the case of an individual who is receiving temporary extended
unemployment compensation for the week which immediately precedes July 1,
2003, temporary extended unemployment compensation shall continue to be payable
to such individual for any week thereafter from the account from which such
individual received compensation for the week immediately preceding that termination
date. No compensation shall be payable by reason of the preceding sentence
for any week beginning after December 31, 2003.'.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendment made by this section shall take effect as
if included in the enactment of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation
Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 21).
SEC. 3. ENTITLEMENT TO ADDITIONAL WEEKS OF TEMPORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT
COMPENSATION.
Paragraph (1) of section 203(b) of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation
Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 21) is amended to read as follows:
`(1) IN GENERAL- The amount established in an account under subsection (a)
shall be equal to 26 times the individual's weekly benefit amount for the
benefit year.'.
SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF REVISED RATE OF INSURED UNEMPLOYMENT.
Section 207 of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002
(Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 21) is amended--
(1) by striking `In' and inserting `(a) GENERAL DEFINITIONS- In'; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
`(b) ADJUSTED INSURED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE- For purposes of carrying out section
203(c) with respect to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after the date
of enactment of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2003, the term
`rate of insured unemployment', as used in section 203(d) of the Federal-State
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note), has
the meaning given such term under section 203(e)(1) of such Act, except that
individuals exhausting their right to regular compensation during the most
recent 3 calendar months for which data are available before the close of
the period for which such rate is being determined shall be taken into account
as if they were individuals filing claims for regular compensation for each
week during the period for which such rate is being determined.'.
SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL TEUC EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD TRIGGER.
(a) IN GENERAL- Section 203(c) of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation
Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 21) is amended by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
`(3) ADDITIONAL EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD TRIGGER-
`(A) IN GENERAL- Effective with respect to compensation for weeks of unemployment
beginning on or after the date of enactment of the Emergency Unemployment
Compensation Act of 2003, an agreement under this title shall provide
that, in addition to any other extended benefit period trigger, for purposes
of beginning or ending any extended benefit period under this section--
`(i) there is a State `on' indicator for a week if--
`(I) the average rate of total unemployment in such State (seasonally
adjusted) for the period consisting of the most recent 3 months for
which data for all States are published before the close of such week
equals or exceeds 6 percent; and
`(II) the average rate of total unemployment in such State (seasonally
adjusted) for the 3-month period referred to in clause (i) equals
or exceeds 110 percent of such average
rate for either (or both) of the corresponding 3-month periods ending in
the 2 preceding calendar years; and
`(ii) there is a State `off' indicator for a week if either the requirements
of subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) are not satisfied.
`(B) NO EFFECT ON OTHER DETERMINATIONS- Notwithstanding the provisions
of any agreement described in subparagraph (A), any week for which there
would otherwise be a State `on' indicator shall continue to be such a
week and shall not be determined to be a week for which there is a State
`off' indicator.
`(C) DETERMINATIONS MADE BY THE SECRETARY- For purposes of this subsection,
determinations of the rate of total unemployment in any State for any
period (and of any seasonal adjustment) shall be made by the Secretary.'.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 203(c)(1) of the Temporary Extended Unemployment
Compensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 21) is amended by
inserting `or (3)' after `paragraph (2)'.
SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL WEEKS OF BENEFITS FOR WORKERS IN HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT STATES.
Section 203(c)(1) of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act
of 2002 (Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 30) is amended by striking `an amount
equal to the amount originally established in such account (as determined
under subsection (b)(1))' and inserting `7 times the individual's weekly benefit
amount for the benefit year'.
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL- Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amendments made
by this Act shall apply with respect to weeks of unemployment beginning on
or after the date of enactment this Act.
(b) RESUMPTION OF BENEFITS-
(1) RULE APPLICABLE TO EXHAUSTEES- In the case of any individual--
(A) to whom any temporary extended unemployment compensation was payable
for any week beginning before January 1, 2003, and
(B) who exhausted such individual's rights to such compensation (by reason
of the payment of all amounts in such individual's temporary extended
unemployment compensation account) before January 1, 2003,
such individual's eligibility for any additional weeks of temporary extended
unemployment compensation by reason of the amendments made by this Act shall
apply with respect to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after the date
of enactment of this Act.
(2) RULE APPLICABLE TO NON-EXHAUSTEES- In the case of any individual--
(A) to whom any temporary extended unemployment compensation was payable
for any week beginning before January 1, 2003, and
(B) as to whom the condition described in paragraph (1)(B) does not apply,
such individual shall, upon appropriate application, be eligible for temporary
extended unemployment compensation (in accordance with the provisions of
the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002, as amended
by this Act) with respect to any weeks of unemployment beginning on or after
December 29, 2002.
(c) DATE FOR DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY OF EXHAUSTEES FOR AUGMENTED BENEFITS-
In the case of any individual described in subsection (b)(1), the determination
under section 203(c) as to whether such individual's State is in an extended
benefit period (for purposes of determining eligibility for augmented benefits
under the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002, as amended
by this Act) shall be made--
(1) as of the date of enactment of this Act, and
(2) without regard to whether or not such a determination was made under
the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002, as in effect
before the amendments made by this Act.
END
