[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3774 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3774

 To provide for unemployment benefits for victims of Hurricane Katrina.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2005

 Mr. McDermott (for himself, Mr. Jefferson, and Mr. Stark) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
                                 Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for unemployment benefits for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

    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 2005''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Federal-State agreements.
Sec. 3. Requirements relating to regular compensation.
Sec. 4. Requirements relating to emergency extended unemployment 
                            compensation.
Sec. 5. Payments to States.
Sec. 6. Financing provisions.
Sec. 7. Definitions.
Sec. 8. Applicability.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Any State that is a qualified State and that 
desires to do so may enter into and participate in an agreement under 
this Act with the Secretary. Any State that 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--
            (1) will make payments of regular compensation in 
        conformance with the requirements of section 3; and
            (2) will make payments of emergency extended unemployment 
        compensation in conformance with the requirements of section 4.
    (c) Qualified State.--For purposes of this Act, the term 
``qualified State'' means Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO REGULAR COMPENSATION.

    (a) In General.--Any agreement under this Act 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 such State were applied with 
the modification described in subsection (b).
    (b) Modification Described.--
            (1) Additional amount.--In the case of an eligible 
        individual, the amount of regular compensation (including 
        dependents' allowances) payable for any week of unemployment to 
        which such agreement applies shall be equal to the amount 
        determined under the State law (before the application of this 
        paragraph), plus an additional--
                    (A) 25 percent, or
                    (B) $100,
        whichever is greater.
            (2) Eligible individual.--For purposes of this section, the 
        term ``eligible individual'' means an individual who--
                    (A) is receiving regular compensation under the 
                State law of the State that is a party to the 
                agreement; and
                    (B) at any time during the week before the week 
                that includes August 28, 2005, either held employment 
                in or resided in an area--
                            (i) that is within a qualified State; and
                            (ii) for which the President has declared a 
                        major disaster under the Robert T. Stafford 
                        Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
                        (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) as a result of 
                        Hurricane Katrina.
    (c) Nonreduction Rule.--Under the agreement, subsection (b) 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 such State 
has been modified in a way such that--
            (1) the average weekly amount of regular compensation which 
        will be payable during the period of the agreement (determined 
        disregarding the modification described in subsection (b)) will 
        be less than
            (2) the average weekly amount of regular compensation which 
        would otherwise have been payable during such period under such 
        State law, as in effect on August 28, 2005.
    (d) Coordination Rule.--The modification described in subsection 
(b) shall also apply in determining the amount of benefits payable 
under any Federal law, to any eligible individual, to the extent that 
those benefits are determined by reference to regular compensation 
payable under the State law of the State involved.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO EMERGENCY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT 
              COMPENSATION.

    (a) In General.--Any agreement under this Act shall provide that 
the State agency of the State will, for any weeks of unemployment to 
which such agreement applies, make payments of emergency extended 
unemployment compensation under this Act to individuals who--
            (1) have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under 
        the State law or under Federal law, but only if exhaustion 
        occurs upon or after the close of the week that includes August 
        28, 2005;
            (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 any other 
        country; and
            (4) at any time during the week before the week that 
        includes August 28, 2005, either held employment in or resided 
        in an area--
                    (A) that is within a qualified State; and
                    (B) for which the President has declared a major 
                disaster under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
                and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) 
                as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
    (b) Exhaustion of Benefits.--For purposes of subsection (a)(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.
    (c) Weekly Benefit Amount, Etc.--For purposes of any agreement 
under this Act--
            (1) the amount of emergency extended 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 emergency extended unemployment 
        compensation and to 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 emergency extended unemployment 
        compensation payable to any individual for whom an emergency 
        extended unemployment compensation account is established under 
        subsection (d) shall not exceed the amount established in such 
        account for such individual.
    (d) Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Accounts.--
            (1) In general.--Any agreement under this Act shall provide 
        that the State will establish, for each eligible individual who 
        files an application for emergency extended unemployment 
        compensation an emergency extended unemployment compensation 
        account with respect to such individual's benefit year.
            (2) Amount in account.--
                    (A) In general.--The amount established in an 
                account under paragraph (1) shall be the amount equal 
                to 13 times the individual's average weekly benefit 
                amount for the benefit year.
                    (B) Weekly benefit amount.--For purposes of this 
                paragraph, an individual's average 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. 5. PAYMENTS TO STATES.

    (a) In General.--There shall be paid to each State which has 
entered into an agreement under this Act the following:
            (1) An amount equal to 100 percent of any additional 
        regular compensation made payable to individuals by such State 
        by virtue of the modification which described in section 3(b) 
        and deemed to be in effect with respect to such State pursuant 
        to section 3(a).
            (2) An amount equal to 100 percent of any emergency 
        extended unemployment compensation paid to individuals by such 
        State pursuant to such agreement.
            (3) An amount equal to 100 percent of any regular 
        compensation, not otherwise reimbursable under this section, 
        paid by such State under the State law of such State--
                    (A) to individuals whose unemployment was a result 
                of Hurricane Katrina (as determined under criteria 
                established by the Secretary); and
                    (B) for any weeks of unemployment to which such 
                agreement applies.
    (b) Determination of Amount.--Sums payable under this section 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. 6. FINANCING PROVISIONS.

    (a) In General.--Funds in the extended unemployment compensation 
account and the Federal unemployment account of the Unemployment Trust 
Fund shall be used, in accordance with succeeding provisions of this 
section, 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--
            (1) by transfers from the extended unemployment 
        compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund, to the 
        extent that they relate to amounts described in paragraph (1) 
        or (2) of section 5(a); and
            (2) by transfers from the Federal unemployment account of 
        the Unemployment Trust Fund, to the extent that they relate to 
        amounts described in section 5(a)(3).

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) In General.--For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the terms ``Secretary'', ``State'', ``State agency'', 
        ``State law'', ``regular compensation'', ``week'', ``benefit 
        year'', and ``base period'' have the respective meanings given 
        such terms under section 205 of the Federal-State Extended 
        Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970;
            (2) the terms ``wages'' and ``employment'' have the 
        respective meanings given such terms under section 3306 of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
            (3) the term ``extended unemployment compensation account'' 
        means the account established by section 905(a) of the Social 
        Security Act;
            (4) the term ``Federal unemployment account'' means the 
        account established by section 904(g) of the Social Security 
        Act; and
            (5) the term ``Unemployment Trust Fund'' means the fund 
        established by section 904(a) of the Social Security Act.
    (b) Special Rule.--Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (a), 
in the case of a State entering into an agreement under this Act--
            (1) the term ``State law'' shall be considered to refer to 
        the State law of such State, applied in conformance with the 
        modification described in section 3(b), subject to section 
        3(c); and
            (2) the term ``regular compensation'' shall be considered 
        to refer to such compensation, determined under its State law 
        (applied in the manner described in paragraph (1)),
except as otherwise provided or where the context clearly indicates 
otherwise.

SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY.

    An agreement entered into under this Act shall apply to weeks of 
unemployment--
            (1) beginning on or after the first day of the week that 
        includes August 28, 2005; and
            (2) ending before September 1, 2006.
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