[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 17 Introduced in House (IH)]







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. 7. Effective date.

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.
                                 <all>