[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1541 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1541

 To provide for a program of temporary enhanced unemployment benefits.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 11, 2001

   Ms. Collins (for herself, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. Smith of Oregon) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for a program of temporary enhanced unemployment benefits.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Temporary Emergency Unemployment 
Compensation Act of 2001''.

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 title with the Secretary of 
Labor (in this title referred to as the ``Secretary''). Any State which 
is a party to an agreement under this title 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 emergency unemployment compensation to individuals who--
            (1) have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under 
        the State law;
            (2) have no rights to compensation (including both regular 
        compensation and 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 (and are not 
        paid or entitled to be paid any additional compensation under 
        any State or Federal law); and
            (3) are not receiving compensation with respect to such 
        week under the unemployment compensation law of Canada.
    (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.--For purposes of any agreement under 
this title--
            (1) the amount of temporary emergency unemployment 
        compensation which shall be payable to any individual for any 
        week of total unemployment shall be equal to 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;
            (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 emergency unemployment 
        compensation and the payment thereof, except where inconsistent 
        with the provisions of this title or with the regulations or 
        operating instructions of the Secretary promulgated to carry 
        out this title; and
            (3) the maximum amount of temporary emergency unemployment 
        compensation payable to any individual for whom a temporary 
        emergency 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 is 
authorized and may elect to trigger off an extended compensation period 
in order to provide payment of temporary emergency unemployment 
compensation to individuals who have exhausted their rights to regular 
compensation under State law.

SEC. 3. TEMPORARY EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACCOUNT.

    (a) In General.--Any agreement under this title shall provide that 
the State will establish, for each eligible individual who files an 
application for temporary emergency unemployment compensation, a 
temporary emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to 
such individual's benefit year.
    (b) Amount in Account.--
            (1) In general.--The amount established in an account under 
        subsection (a) shall be equal to 13 times the individual's 
        average weekly benefit amount for the benefit year.
            (2) Reduction for extended benefits.--The amount in an 
        account under paragraph (1) shall be reduced (but not below 
        zero) by the aggregate amount of extended compensation (if any) 
        received by such individual relating to the same benefit year 
        under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act 
        of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note).
            (3) Weekly benefit amount.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, an individual's weekly benefit amount for any week 
        is the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' 
        allowances) under the State law payable to such individual for 
        such week for total unemployment.

SEC. 4. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS FOR THE PAYMENT OF 
              TEMPORARY EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.

    (a) General Rule.--There shall be paid to each State that has 
entered into an agreement under this title an amount equal to 100 
percent of the temporary emergency 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 
title 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 title in respect of such compensation.
    (c) Determination of Amount.--Sums payable to any State by reason 
of such State having an agreement under this title 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 title 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 
title.
    (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 title. The Secretary of the Treasury, 
prior to audit or settlement by the General Accounting 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, 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 title.
    (d) Authorization of 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 emergency unemployment compensation under this 
title to which he was not entitled, such individual--
            (1) shall be ineligible for further temporary emergency 
        unemployment compensation under this title 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 emergency unemployment compensation under this 
title to which they were not entitled, the State shall require such 
individuals to repay the amounts of such emergency unemployment 
compensation to the State agency, except that the State agency may 
waive such repayment if it determines that--
            (1) the payment of such emergency 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 emergency unemployment compensation payable to such 
        individual under this title 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 emergency 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 title, the terms ``compensation'', ``regular 
compensation'', ``extended compensation'', ``additional 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.

    An agreement entered into under this Act shall apply to weeks of 
unemployment--
            (1) beginning no earlier than the first day of the first 
        week beginning after the date on which such agreement is 
        entered into; and
            (2) ending before the date that is 18 months after the date 
        of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 9. TEMPORARY REDUCTION IN INTEREST RATE APPLICABLE TO REPAYMENTS 
              OF ADVANCES TO STATE UNEMPLOYMENT FUNDS.

    With respect to advances made to a State under section 1201 of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1321) during the period beginning on the 
date of enactment of this Act and ending on the date that is 18 months 
after such date of enactment, the rate of interest paid by a State on 
such an advance shall be determined under section 1202(b)(4) of the 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 1322(b)(4)) by substituting ``5 percent'' for ``10 
percent'' in the matter preceding subparagraph (A).
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