[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1045 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1045

  To permit States to establish programs using unemployment funds to 
        assist unemployed individuals in becoming self-employed.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                May 27 (legislative day, April 19), 1993

  Mr. Wofford (for himself and Mr. Bradley) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and 
                            Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To permit States to establish programs using unemployment funds to 
        assist unemployed individuals in becoming self-employed.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Self-Employment Opportunity Act''.

SEC. 2. SELF-EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Secretary of Labor (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 
``Secretary'') may authorize States to establish and operate self-
employment programs that meet the requirements of this section.
    (b) Requirements.--The Secretary may authorize a State self-
employment program, if a State applies to participate in such a 
program, and the Secretary determines that--
            (1) the State program does not result in any cost to the 
        Unemployment Trust Fund (established by section 904(a) of the 
        Social Security Act) in excess of the cost that would be 
        incurred by such State and charged to such Fund if the State 
        had not participated in a self-employment program;
            (2) the State program provides unemployment benefits only 
        to individuals who are entitled to unemployment compensation 
        under State law (without regard to any disqualification 
        resulting from self-employment and without regard to any State 
        law relating to availability for work, active search for work, 
        or refusal to accept work);
            (3) the State program contains a process to target 
        individuals who have been permanently separated from their jobs 
        or do not expect to be recalled to their jobs;
            (4) benefits under the State program are available only to 
        individuals who are likely to receive unemployment compensation 
        for the maximum number of weeks that such compensation is 
        available under the State law during a benefit year; and
            (5) the aggregate number of individuals receiving benefits 
        under the State program does not at any time exceed 5 percent 
        of the number of individuals receiving compensation under the 
        State law at such time.
    (c) Benefits.--If the Secretary authorizes a self-employment 
program for a State under this section, the State may use the State 
unemployment fund to provide cash unemployment benefits, exclusive of 
the expenses of administration, to individuals participating in the 
program. Such benefits shall be used to assist participating 
individuals in becoming self-employed.
    (d) Reports.--
            (1) State reports.--Any State operating a self-employment 
        program authorized by the Secretary under this section shall 
        report annually to the Secretary on the number of individuals 
        who participate in the program, the number of individuals who 
        are able to develop and sustain businesses, the operating costs 
        of the program, compliance with program requirements, and any 
        other relevant aspects of program operations requested by the 
        Secretary.
            (2) Reports to congress.--Not later than December 31, 1996, 
        based on the reports received from States operating self-
        employment programs under this section, the Secretary shall 
        report to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 
        with respect to the operation of the State programs. The report 
        shall contain the Secretary's recommendations regarding 
        establishment of a permanent self-employment program as part of 
        the regular unemployment compensation program.
    (e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the terms 
``compensation'', ``regular compensation'', ``benefit year'', 
``State'', and ``State law'', have the respective meanings given such 
terms by section 205 of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment 
Compensation Act of 1970.
    (f) Termination.--The provisions of this section shall not apply 
after September 30, 1997.

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