[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2120 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2120

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to include individuals who 
have exhausted all rights to emergency unemployment compensation under 
  title IV of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 as a targeted 
         group for purposes of the work opportunity tax credit.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 3, 2011

   Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to include individuals who 
have exhausted all rights to emergency unemployment compensation under 
  title IV of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 as a targeted 
         group for purposes of the work opportunity tax credit.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) 99ers are a group of people whose numbers have 
        increased six fold in the past 3 years, and comprise nearly 10 
        percent of the unemployment in the third quarter of 2010 
        (Department of Labor).
            (2) From December 2007 to October 2010, the unemployment 
        rate for persons unemployed for more than 99 weeks rose from 
        0.1 percent to 1.0 percent with an estimate taken in October of 
        2010 of 1.4 million very long-term unemployed (CRS - R41559).
            (3) Before extended benefits expired on November 30, 2010, 
        24 States and Washington, District of Columbia, offered the 
        full 99 weeks of unemployment benefits, 6 States offered 
        unemployment benefits for 93 weeks, 5 States had unemployment 
        benefits for 86 weeks, 9 States allowed 73 weeks, and 5 States 
        were at 60 weeks, with only Mississippi offering 79 weeks of 
        unemployment benefits (The Center on Budget and Policy 
        Priorities).
            (4) The number of unemployed persons in December 2010 
        dropped to 14.5 million with an unemployment rate of 9.4 
        percent (Department of Labor).

SEC. 2. WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT FOR 99ERS.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (1) of section 51(d) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of 
subparagraph (H), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (I) 
and inserting ``, or'', and by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(J) a 99er.''.
    (b) 99er Defined.--Subsection (d) of section 51 of such Code is 
amended by redesignating paragraphs (11) through (14) as paragraphs 
(12) through (15), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph (10) 
the following:
            ``(11) 99er.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `99er' means an 
                individual who, before the end of the 2-year period 
                beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
                paragraph, is certified by the designated local agency 
                as having exhausted all rights to emergency 
                unemployment compensation under title IV of the 
                Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 during the period 
                beginning on December 1, 2007, and ending on the hiring 
                date.
                    ``(B) Exhaustion of rights.--An individual shall be 
                considered to satisfy subparagraph (A) only if--
                            ``(i) no payments of emergency unemployment 
                        compensation under title IV of the Supplemental 
                        Appropriations Act, 2008 can be made because--
                                    ``(I) such individual has received 
                                the maximum level of regular 
                                compensation, extended compensation, 
                                and emergency unemployment compensation 
                                within their State, or
                                    ``(II) such individual's rights to 
                                such compensation have been terminated 
                                by reason of section 4007(b)(3) of such 
                                Act, and
                            ``(ii) in the case of an individual to whom 
                        an election described in section 4001(e) of 
                        such Act applies, no payments of extended 
                        compensation can be made under the applicable 
                        State law because--
                                    ``(I) such individual has exhausted 
                                the maximum level of regular 
                                compensation, extended compensation, 
                                and emergency unemployment compensation 
                                applicable within their State, or
                                    ``(II) such individual's rights to 
                                such compensation have been terminated 
                                by reason of such individual has 
                                exhausted the maximum level of such 
                                compensation applicable within their 
                                State.
                    ``(C) Definitions.--For purposes of this 
                paragraph--
                            ``(i) the terms `regular compensation', 
                        `extended compensation', and `State law' have 
                        the respective meanings given them under 
                        section 205 of the Federal-State Extended 
                        Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, and
                            ``(ii) the term `employment' has the 
                        meaning given such term under the applicable 
                        State law.
                    ``(D) Special rules.--
                            ``(i) First-year credit amount for 
                        individuals performing between 120 and 400 
                        hours of service.--Notwithstanding subsection 
                        (i)(3)(B), in the case of qualified first year 
                        wages paid to a 99er who has performed at least 
                        120 hours, but less than 400 hours, of service 
                        for the employer, subsection (a) shall be 
                        applied by substituting `25 percent' for `40 
                        percent'.
                            ``(ii) Second-year credit amount.--With 
                        respect to the employment of a 99er, the amount 
                        of the work opportunity credit determined under 
                        this section for the taxable year shall include 
                        25 percent of the qualified second-year wages 
                        for such year.
                    ``(E) Qualified second-year wages.--The term 
                `qualified second-year wages' means qualified wages--
                            ``(i) which are paid to a 99er, and
                            ``(ii) which are attributable to service 
                        rendered during the 1-year period beginning on 
                        the day after the last day of the 1-year period 
                        with respect to such recipient determined under 
                        subsection (b)(2).
                    ``(F) Limitation on wages per year taken into 
                account.--For purposes of this paragraph, the amount of 
                the qualified first-year wages and qualified second-
                year wages which may be taken into account with respect 
                to any individual shall not exceed $10,000 per year.
                    ``(G) Credit made refundable.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In the case of an 
                        eligible employer of an employee, the aggregate 
                        credits allowed to a taxpayer under subpart C 
                        shall be increased by the credit which would be 
                        allowed under this section by reason of 
                        subsection (d)(1)(J), without regard to this 
                        subparagraph and sections 38(c) and 52(c).
                        The amount of the credit allowed under this 
                        subparagraph shall not be treated as a credit 
                        allowed under section 38.
                            ``(ii) Eligible employer.--For purposes of 
                        this subsection, the term `eligible employer' 
                        means an employer which is--
                                    ``(I) a State or political 
                                subdivision thereof, the District of 
                                Columbia, a possession of the United 
                                States, or an agency or instrumentality 
                                of any of the foregoing, or
                                    ``(II) any organization described 
                                in section 501(c) and exempt from 
                                taxation under section 501(a).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to individuals who begin work for the employer after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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