I
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 291
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 8, 2009
Mr. McDermott introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To provide for certain temporary additional unemployment benefits.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Unemployment Supplemental Assistance
Act
.
Increase in unemployment compensation benefits
Federal-State agreements
Any State which
desires to do so may enter into and participate in an agreement under this
section with the Secretary of Labor (hereinafter in this section referred to as
the Secretary
). Any State which is a party to an agreement under
this section may, upon providing 30 days’ written notice to the Secretary,
terminate such agreement.
Provisions of agreement
Additional compensation
Any agreement under this section shall provide that the State agency of the State will make payments of regular compensation to individuals in amounts and to the extent that they would be determined if the State law of the State were applied, with respect to any week for which the individual is (disregarding this section) otherwise entitled under the State law to receive regular compensation, as if such State law had been modified in a manner such that the amount of regular compensation (including dependents’ allowances) payable for any week shall be equal to the amount determined under the State law (before the application of this paragraph) plus an additional $50.
Allowable methods of payment
Any additional compensation provided for in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be payable either—
as an amount which is paid at the same time and in the same manner as any regular compensation otherwise payable for the week involved; or
at the option of the State, by payments which are made separately from, but on the same weekly basis as, any regular compensation otherwise payable.
Nonreduction rule
An agreement under this section shall not apply (or shall cease to apply) with respect to a State upon a determination by the Secretary that the method governing the computation of regular compensation under the State law of that State has been modified in a manner such that—
the average weekly benefit amount of regular compensation which will be payable during the period of the agreement (determined disregarding any additional amounts attributable to the modification described in subsection (b)(1)) will be less than
the average weekly benefit amount of regular compensation which would otherwise have been payable during such period under the State law, as in effect on December 31, 2008.
Payments to States
In general
Full reimbursement
There shall be paid to each State which has entered into an agreement under this section an amount equal to 100 percent of—
the total amount of additional compensation (as described in subsection (b)(1)) paid to individuals by the State pursuant to such agreement; and
any additional administrative expenses incurred by the State by reason of such agreement (as determined by the Secretary).
Terms of payments
Sums payable to any State by reason of such State’s having an agreement under this section shall be payable, either in advance or by way of reimbursement (as determined by the Secretary), in such amounts as the Secretary estimates the State will be entitled to receive under this section for each calendar month, reduced or increased, as the case may be, by any amount by which the Secretary finds that his 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.
Certifications
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 section.
Appropriation
There are appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury, without fiscal year limitation, such sums as may be necessary for purposes of this subsection.
Applicability
In general
An agreement entered into under this section shall apply to weeks of unemployment—
beginning after the date on which such agreement is entered into; and
ending before January 1, 2010.
Transition rule for individuals remaining entitled to regular compensation as of January 1, 2010
In the case of any individual who, as of the date specified in paragraph (1)(B), has not yet exhausted all rights to regular compensation under the State law of a State with respect to a benefit year that began before such date, additional compensation (as described in subsection (b)(1)) shall continue to be payable to such individual for any week beginning on or after such date for which the individual is otherwise eligible for regular compensation.
Termination
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, no additional compensation (as described in subsection (b)(1)) shall be payable for any week beginning after June 30, 2010.
Fraud and overpayments
The provisions of section 4005 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110–252; 122 Stat. 2356) shall apply with respect to additional compensation (as described in subsection (b)(1)) to the same extent and in the same manner as in the case of emergency unemployment compensation.
Application to other unemployment benefits
In general
Each agreement under this section shall include provisions to provide that the purposes of the preceding provisions of this section shall be applied with respect to unemployment benefits described in subsection (h)(3) to the same extent and in the same manner as if those benefits were regular compensation.
Eligibility and termination rules
Additional compensation (as described in subsection (b)(1))—
shall not be payable, pursuant to this subsection, with respect to any unemployment benefits described in subsection (h)(3) for any week beginning on or after the date specified in subsection (e)(1)(B), except in the case of an individual who was eligible to receive additional compensation (as so described) in connection with any regular compensation or any unemployment benefits described in subsection (h)(3) for any period of unemployment ending before such date; and
shall in no event be payable for any week beginning after the date specified in subsection (e)(3).
Definitions
For purposes of this section—
the terms compensation, regulation compensation, benefit year, 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);
the term emergency unemployment compensation means emergency unemployment compensation under title IV of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110–252; 122 Stat. 2353); and
any reference to unemployment benefits described in this paragraph shall be considered to refer to—
extended compensation (as defined by section 205 of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970); and
unemployment compensation (as defined by section 85(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) provided under any program administered by a State under an agreement with the Secretary.