[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2544 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2544

      To provide for a program of temporary extended unemployment 
                             compensation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 22 (legislative day, January 3), 2008

Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Reed, 
Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Brown) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To provide for a program of temporary extended unemployment 
                             compensation.

    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 Extension Act of 2008''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Federal-State agreements.
Sec. 3. Temporary extended unemployment compensation account.
Sec. 4. Payments to States having agreements for the payment of 
                            temporary extended unemployment 
                            compensation.
Sec. 5. Financing provisions.
Sec. 6. Fraud and overpayments.
Sec. 7. Definitions.
Sec. 8. Applicability.

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 Act with the Secretary of 
Labor (in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary''). Any State which 
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 will make payments of 
temporary extended unemployment compensation to individuals who--
            (1) have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under 
        the State law or under Federal law with respect to a benefit 
        year (excluding any benefit year that ended before the date 
        that is 1 year prior to the date of enactment of this Act);
            (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 Canada; and
            (4) filed an initial claim for regular compensation on or 
        after the date that is 1 year prior to the date of enactment of 
        this Act.
    (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, etc.--For purposes of any agreement 
under this Act--
            (1) the amount of temporary extended unemployment 
        compensation which shall be payable to any individual for any 
        week of total unemployment shall be equal to the sum of--
                    (A) 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; and
                    (B) $50;
            (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 extended unemployment 
        compensation and 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 temporary extended unemployment 
        compensation payable to any individual for whom a temporary 
        extended 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 that is 
in an extended benefit period may provide for the payment of temporary 
extended unemployment compensation in lieu of extended compensation to 
individuals who otherwise meet the requirements of this section. Such 
an election shall not require a State to trigger off an extended 
benefit period.

SEC. 3. TEMPORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACCOUNT.

    (a) In General.--Any agreement under this Act shall provide that 
the State will establish, for each eligible individual who files an 
application for temporary extended unemployment compensation, a 
temporary extended 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 20 times the individual's 
        average weekly benefit amount (as determined under paragraph 
        (2)) for the benefit year.
            (2) Weekly benefit amount.--For purposes of paragraph (1) 
        and subsection (c)(1), an individual's weekly benefit amount 
        for any week is equal to the sum of--
                    (A) the amount of regular compensation (including 
                dependents' allowances) under the State law payable to 
                such individual for such week for total unemployment; 
                and
                    (B) $50.
    (c) Special Rule.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this section, if, at the time that the individual's account is 
        exhausted, such individual's State is in an extended benefit 
        period (as determined under paragraph (2)), then, such account 
        shall be augmented by an amount equal to 13 times the 
        individual's average weekly benefit amount (as determined under 
        subsection (b)(2)) for the benefit year.
            (2) Extended benefit period.--For purposes of paragraph 
        (1), a State shall be considered to be in an extended benefit 
        period if, at the time of exhaustion (as described in paragraph 
        (1)) or at any time during the period beginning on the date of 
        enactment of this act and ending at the time of such 
        exhaustion--
                    (A) such a period is then in effect for such State 
                under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment 
                Compensation Act of 1970; or
                    (B) such a period would then be in effect for such 
                State under such Act if--
                            (i) section 203(f) of such Act was applied 
                        to such State (regardless of whether the State 
                        by law had provided for such application); and
                            (ii) such section 203(f)--
                                    (I) was applied by substituting 
                                ``6.0'' for ``6.5'' in paragraph 
                                (1)(A)(i); and
                                    (II) did not include the 
                                requirement under paragraph (1)(A)(ii).

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

    (a) General Rule.--There shall be paid to each State which has 
entered into an agreement under this Act an amount equal to 100 percent 
of the temporary extended 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 
Act 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 Act in respect of such compensation.
    (c) Determination of Amount.--Sums payable 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. 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 
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, 
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 out of the 
employment security administration account (as established by section 
901(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1101(a))) of the 
Unemployment Trust Fund, 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 Act.
    (d) 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 extended unemployment compensation under this Act 
to which the individual was not entitled, such individual--
            (1) shall be ineligible for further temporary extended 
        unemployment compensation under this Act 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 extended unemployment compensation under this Act 
to which they were not entitled, the State shall require such 
individuals to repay the amounts of such temporary extended 
unemployment compensation to the State agency, except that the State 
agency may waive such repayment if it determines that--
            (1) the payment of such temporary extended 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 extended unemployment compensation payable to such 
        individual under this Act 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 extended 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 Act, the terms ``compensation'', ``regular compensation'', 
``extended 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.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), an agreement 
entered into under this Act shall apply to weeks of unemployment--
            (1) beginning after the date on which such agreement is 
        entered into; and
            (2) ending on or before the date that is 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Transition for Amount Remaining in Account.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), in the 
        case of an individual who has amounts remaining in an account 
        established under section 3 as of the date that is 1 year after 
        the date of enactment of this Act, temporary extended 
        unemployment compensation shall continue to be payable to such 
        individual from such amounts for any week beginning after the 
        date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act for 
        which the individual meets the eligibility requirements of this 
        Act.
            (2) No augmentation after 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this act.--If the account of an individual is 
        exhausted after the date that is 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, then section 3(c) shall not apply and 
        such account shall not be augmented under such section, 
        regardless of whether such individual's State is in an extended 
        benefit period (as determined under paragraph (2) of such 
        section).
            (3) Limitation.--No compensation shall be payable by reason 
        of paragraph (1) for any week beginning after the date that is 
        18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
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