[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1513 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1513

  To provide for demonstration projects to help improve the Nation's 
                   unemployment compensation system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2007

    Mr. Weller of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for demonstration projects to help improve the Nation's 
                   unemployment compensation system.

    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 ``Unemployment Compensation 
Improvement Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED REEMPLOYMENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

    Title III of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 and following) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

                        ``demonstration projects

    ``Sec. 305.  (a) The Secretary of Labor may enter into agreements, 
with States submitting an application described in subsection (b), for 
the purpose of allowing such States to conduct demonstration projects 
to test and evaluate measures designed--
    ``(1) to expedite, such as through the use of a wage insurance 
program, the reemployment of individuals who establish initial 
eligibility for unemployment compensation under the State law of such 
State; or
    ``(2) to improve the effectiveness of such State in carrying out 
its State law.
    ``(b) The Governor of any State desiring to conduct a demonstration 
project under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
of Labor at such time, in such manner, and including such information 
as the Secretary of Labor may require. Any such application shall, at a 
minimum, include--
            ``(1) a general description of the proposed demonstration 
        project, including the authority (under the laws of the State) 
        for the measures to be tested, as well as the period of time 
        during which such demonstration project would be conducted;
            ``(2) if a waiver under subsection (c) is requested, the 
        specific aspects of the project to which the waiver would apply 
        and the reasons why such waiver is needed;
            ``(3) a description of the goals and the expected 
        programmatic outcomes of the demonstration project, including 
        how the project would contribute to the objective described in 
        subsection (a)(1), subsection (a)(2), or both;
            ``(4) assurances (accompanied by supporting analysis) that 
        the demonstration project would not result in any increased net 
        costs to the State's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund;
            ``(5) a description of the manner in which the State--
                    ``(A) will conduct an impact evaluation, using a 
                control or comparison group or other valid methodology, 
                of the demonstration project; and
                    ``(B) will determine the extent to which the goals 
                and outcomes described in paragraph (3) were achieved; 
                and
            ``(6) assurances that the State will provide any reports 
        relating to the demonstration project, after its approval, as 
        the Secretary of Labor may require.
    ``(c) The Secretary of Labor may waive any of the requirements of 
section 3304(a)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or of paragraph 
(1) or (5) of section 303(a), to the extent and for the period the 
Secretary of Labor considers necessary to enable the State to carry out 
a demonstration project under this section.
    ``(d) A demonstration project under this section--
            ``(1) may be commenced any time after September 30, 2007; 
        and
            ``(2) may not, under subsection (b), be approved for a 
        period of time greater than 2 years, subject to extension upon 
        request of the Governor of the State involved for such 
        additional period as the Secretary of Labor may agree to, 
        except that in no event may a demonstration project under this 
        section be conducted after the end of the 5-year period 
        beginning on the date of the enactment of this section.
    ``(e) The Secretary of Labor shall, in the case of any State for 
which an application is submitted under subsection (b)--
            ``(1) notify the State as to whether such application has 
        been approved or denied within 90 days after receipt of a 
        complete application, and
            ``(2) provide public notice of the decision within 10 days 
        after providing notification to the State in accordance with 
        paragraph (1).
Public notice under paragraph (2) may be provided through the Internet 
or other appropriate means. Any application under this section that has 
not been approved within such 90 days shall be treated as denied.
    ``(f) The Secretary of Labor may terminate a demonstration project 
under this section if the Secretary determines that the State has not 
complied with the terms and conditions of the project.''.
                                 <all>