S 2544
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2544
To provide for a program of temporary extended unemployment
compensation.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 22 (legislative day, January 3), 2008
Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. DODD, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. REED,
Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. OBAMA, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To provide for a program of temporary extended unemployment
compensation.
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 Extension Act of 2008'.
(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Federal-State agreements.
Sec. 3. Temporary extended unemployment compensation account.
Sec. 4. Payments to States having agreements for the payment of temporary
extended unemployment compensation.
Sec. 5. Financing provisions.
Sec. 6. Fraud and overpayments.
SEC. 2. FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS.
(a) In General- Any State which desires to do so may enter into and
participate in an agreement under this Act with the Secretary of Labor
(in this Act referred to as the `Secretary'). Any State which is a party
to an agreement under this Act may, upon providing 30 days written notice
to the Secretary, terminate such agreement.
(b) Provisions of Agreement- Any agreement under subsection (a) shall
provide that the State agency of the State will make payments of temporary
extended unemployment compensation to individuals who--
(1) have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under the State
law or under Federal law with respect to a benefit year (excluding
any benefit year that ended before the date that is 1 year prior to
the date of enactment of this Act);
(2) have no rights to regular compensation or extended compensation
with respect to a week under such law or any other State unemployment
compensation law or to compensation under any other Federal law;
(3) are not receiving compensation with respect to such week under
the unemployment compensation law of Canada; and
(4) filed an initial claim for regular compensation on or after the
date that is 1 year prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) Exhaustion of Benefits- For purposes of subsection (b)(1), an individual
shall be deemed to have exhausted such individual's rights to regular
compensation under a State law when--
(1) no payments of regular compensation can be made under such law
because such individual has received all regular compensation available
to such individual based on employment or wages during such individual's
base period; or
(2) such individual's rights to such compensation have been terminated
by reason of the expiration of the benefit year with respect to which
such rights existed.
(d) Weekly Benefit Amount, etc- For purposes of any agreement under
this Act--
(1) the amount of temporary extended unemployment compensation which
shall be payable to any individual for any week of total unemployment
shall be equal to the sum of--
(A) the amount of the regular compensation (including dependents'
allowances) payable to such individual during such individual's
benefit year under the State law for a week of total unemployment;
and
(2) the terms and conditions of the State law which apply to claims
for regular compensation and to the payment thereof shall apply to
claims for temporary extended unemployment compensation and the payment
thereof, except where otherwise inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act or with the regulations or operating instructions of the
Secretary promulgated to carry out this Act; and
(3) the maximum amount of temporary extended unemployment compensation
payable to any individual for whom a temporary extended unemployment
compensation account is established under section 3 shall not exceed
the amount established in such account for such individual.
(e) Election by States- Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal
law (and if State law permits), the Governor of a State that is in an
extended benefit period may provide for the payment of temporary extended
unemployment compensation in lieu of extended compensation to individuals
who otherwise meet the requirements of this section. Such an election
shall not require a State to trigger off an extended benefit period.
SEC. 3. TEMPORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACCOUNT.
(a) In General- Any agreement under this Act shall provide that the
State will establish, for each eligible individual who files an application
for temporary extended unemployment compensation, a temporary extended
unemployment compensation account with respect to such individual's
benefit year.
(1) IN GENERAL- The amount established in an account under subsection
(a) shall be equal to 20 times the individual's average weekly benefit
amount (as determined under paragraph (2)) for the benefit year.
(2) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT- For purposes of paragraph (1) and subsection
(c)(1), an individual's weekly benefit amount for any week is equal
to the sum of--
(A) the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances)
under the State law payable to such individual for such week for
total unemployment; and
(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
if, at the time that the individual's account is exhausted, such individual's
State is in an extended benefit period (as determined under paragraph
(2)), then, such account shall be augmented by an amount equal to
13 times the individual's average weekly benefit amount (as determined
under subsection (b)(2)) for the benefit year.
(2) EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD- For purposes of paragraph (1), a State
shall be considered to be in an extended benefit period if, at the
time of exhaustion (as described in paragraph (1)) or at any time
during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this act and
ending at the time of such exhaustion--
(A) such a period is then in effect for such State under the Federal-State
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970; or
(B) such a period would then be in effect for such State under such
Act if--
(i) section 203(f) of such Act was applied to such State (regardless
of whether the State by law had provided for such application);
and
(ii) such section 203(f)--
(I) was applied by substituting `6.0' for `6.5' in paragraph
(1)(A)(i); and
(II) did not include the requirement under paragraph (1)(A)(ii).
SEC. 4. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS FOR THE PAYMENT OF TEMPORARY
EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.
(a) General Rule- There shall be paid to each State which has entered
into an agreement under this Act an amount equal to 100 percent of the
temporary extended unemployment compensation paid to individuals by
the State pursuant to such agreement.
(b) Treatment of Reimbursable Compensation- No payment shall be made
to any State under this section in respect of any compensation to the
extent the State is entitled to reimbursement in respect of such compensation
under the provisions of any Federal law other than this Act or chapter
85 of title 5, United States Code. A State shall not be entitled to
any reimbursement under such chapter 85 in respect of any compensation
to the extent the State is entitled to reimbursement under this Act
in respect of such compensation.
(c) Determination of Amount- Sums payable to any State by reason of
such State having an agreement under this Act shall be payable, either
in advance or by way of reimbursement (as may be determined by the Secretary),
in such amounts as the Secretary estimates the State will be entitled
to receive under this Act for each calendar month, reduced or increased,
as the case may be, by any amount by which the Secretary finds that
the Secretary's estimates for any prior calendar month were greater
or less than the amounts which should have been paid to the State. Such
estimates may be made on the basis of such statistical, sampling, or
other method as may be agreed upon by the Secretary and the State agency
of the State involved.
SEC. 5. FINANCING PROVISIONS.
(a) In General- Funds in the extended unemployment compensation account
(as established by section 905(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1105(a))) of the Unemployment Trust Fund (as established by section
904(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1104(a))) shall be used for the making
of payments to States having agreements entered into under this Act.
(b) Certification- The Secretary shall from time to time certify to
the Secretary of the Treasury for payment to each State the sums payable
to such State under this Act. The Secretary of the Treasury, prior to
audit or settlement by the Government Accountability Office, shall make
payments to the State in accordance with such certification, by transfers
from the extended unemployment compensation account (as so established)
to the account of such State in the Unemployment Trust Fund (as so established).
(c) Assistance to States- There are appropriated out of the employment
security administration account (as established by section 901(a) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1101(a))) of the Unemployment Trust
Fund, without fiscal year limitation, such funds as may be necessary
for purposes of assisting States (as provided in title III of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 et seq.)) in meeting the costs of administration
of agreements under this Act.
(d) Appropriations for Certain Payments- There are appropriated from
the general fund of the Treasury, without fiscal year limitation, to
the extended unemployment compensation account (as so established) of
the Unemployment Trust Fund (as so established) such sums as the Secretary
estimates to be necessary to make the payments under this section in
respect of--
(1) compensation payable under chapter 85 of title 5, United States
Code; and
(2) compensation payable on the basis of services to which section
3309(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 applies.
Amounts appropriated pursuant to the preceding sentence shall not be
required to be repaid.
SEC. 6. FRAUD AND OVERPAYMENTS.
(a) In General- If an individual knowingly has made, or caused to be
made by another, a false statement or representation of a material fact,
or knowingly has failed, or caused another to fail, to disclose a material
fact, and as a result of such false statement or representation or of
such nondisclosure such individual has received an amount of temporary
extended unemployment compensation under this Act to which the individual
was not entitled, such individual--
(1) shall be ineligible for further temporary extended unemployment
compensation under this Act in accordance with the provisions of the
applicable State unemployment compensation law relating to fraud in
connection with a claim for unemployment compensation; and
(2) shall be subject to prosecution under section 1001 of title 18,
United States Code.
(b) Repayment- In the case of individuals who have received amounts
of temporary extended unemployment compensation under this Act to which
they were not entitled, the State shall require such individuals to
repay the amounts of such temporary extended unemployment compensation
to the State agency, except that the State agency may waive such repayment
if it determines that--
(1) the payment of such temporary extended unemployment compensation
was without fault on the part of any such individual; and
(2) such repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience.
(c) Recovery by State Agency-
(1) IN GENERAL- The State agency may recover the amount to be repaid,
or any part thereof, by deductions from any temporary extended unemployment
compensation payable to such individual under this Act or from any
unemployment compensation payable to such individual under any Federal
unemployment compensation law administered by the State agency or
under any other Federal law administered by the State agency which
provides for the payment of any assistance or allowance with respect
to any week of unemployment, during the 3-year period after the date
such individuals received the payment of the temporary extended unemployment
compensation to which they were not entitled, except that no single
deduction may exceed 50 percent of the weekly benefit amount from
which such deduction is made.
(2) OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING- No repayment shall be required, and no
deduction shall be made, until a determination has been made, notice
thereof and an opportunity for a fair hearing has been given to the
individual, and the determination has become final.
(d) Review- Any determination by a State agency under this section shall
be subject to review in the same manner and to the same extent as determinations
under the State unemployment compensation law, and only in that manner
and to that extent.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the terms `compensation', `regular compensation', `extended
compensation', `benefit year', `base period', `State', `State agency',
`State law', and `week' have the respective meanings given such terms
under section 205 of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation
Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note).
SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY.
(a) In General- Except as provided in subsection (b), an agreement entered
into under this Act shall apply to weeks of unemployment--
(1) beginning after the date on which such agreement is entered into;
and
(2) ending on or before the date that is 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(b) Transition for Amount Remaining in Account-
(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), in the case of
an individual who has amounts remaining in an account established
under section 3 as of the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, temporary extended unemployment compensation shall continue
to be payable to such individual from such amounts for any week beginning
after the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act for which the individual meets the eligibility requirements of
this Act.
(2) NO AUGMENTATION AFTER 1 YEAR AFTER THE DATE OF ENACTMENT OF THIS
ACT- If the account of an individual is exhausted after the date that
is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, then section 3(c)
shall not apply and such account shall not be augmented under such
section, regardless of whether such individual's State is in an extended
benefit period (as determined under paragraph (2) of such section).
(3) LIMITATION- No compensation shall be payable by reason of paragraph
(1) for any week beginning after the date that is 18 months after
the date of enactment of this Act.
END
