[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5669 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5669

 To provide emergency unemployment compensation to coal mining workers 
 who lost their jobs due to Federal environmental regulations, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 7, 2016

 Mr. Jenkins of West Virginia introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide emergency unemployment compensation to coal mining workers 
 who lost their jobs due to Federal environmental regulations, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Creating Opportunities for America's 
Laid-off (COAL) Miners Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Any qualifying 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) Qualifying State.--For purposes of subsection (a), a 
``qualifying State'' means a State in which the coal mining and related 
industries have been adversely impacted by regulations promulgated by 
the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of the Interior, 
including--
            (1) Alabama;
            (2) Illinois;
            (3) Indiana;
            (4) Kentucky;
            (5) Ohio;
            (6) Pennsylvania;
            (7) Tennessee;
            (8) Virginia;
            (9) West Virginia;
            (10) Wyoming; and
            (11) any other State that the Secretary determines--
                    (A) has traditionally relied on coal mining for a 
                substantial portion of its economy; and
                    (B) has experienced a significant reduction in coal 
                mining-related activity over the 5-year period 
                preceding the determination, as demonstrated by 
                employment data, per capita income, or other indicators 
                of reduced economic activity.
    (c) Provisions of Agreement.--Any agreement under subsection (a) 
shall provide that the State agency of the State will make payments of 
coal mining emergency 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 of 
        the enactment of this Act);
            (2) have no rights to regular 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) are able to work, available to work, and actively 
        seeking work.
    (d) Exhaustion of Benefits.--For purposes of subsection (c)(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.
    (e) Weekly Benefit Amount, etc.--For purposes of any agreement 
under subsection (a)--
            (1) the amount of coal mining emergency 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 
        (including terms and conditions relating to availability for 
        work, active search for work, and refusal to accept work) shall 
        apply to claims for coal mining emergency unemployment 
        compensation and the payment thereof, except--
                    (A) that an individual shall not be eligible for 
                coal mining emergency unemployment compensation under 
                this Act unless, in the base period with respect to 
                which the individual exhausted all rights to regular 
                compensation under the State law, the individual had 20 
                weeks of full-time insured employment or the equivalent 
                in insured wages, as determined under the provisions of 
                the State law implementing section 202(a)(5) of the 
                Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 
                1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note); and
                    (B) 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 coal mining emergency 
        unemployment compensation payable to any individual for whom a 
        coal mining emergency unemployment compensation account is 
        established under section 3 shall not exceed the amount 
        established in such account for such individual.
    (f) Coordination Rule.--An agreement under subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to a State only upon a determination by the 
Secretary that, under the State law or other applicable rules of such 
State, the payment of extended compensation for which an individual is 
otherwise eligible must be deferred until after the payment of any coal 
mining emergency unemployment compensation under section 3 for which 
the individual is concurrently eligible.
    (g) Unauthorized Aliens Ineligible.--A State shall require as a 
condition of eligibility for coal mining emergency unemployment 
compensation under this Act that each alien who receives such 
compensation must be legally authorized to work in the United States, 
as defined for purposes of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (26 U.S.C. 
3301 et seq.). In determining whether an alien meets the requirements 
of this subsection, a State must follow the procedures provided in 
section 1137(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-7(d)).
    (h) Actively Seeking Work.--
            (1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (c)(4), the 
        term ``actively seeking work'' means, with respect to any 
        individual, that such individual--
                    (A) is registered for employment services in such a 
                manner and to such extent as prescribed by the State 
                agency;
                    (B) has engaged in an active search for employment 
                that is appropriate in light of the employment 
                available in the labor market, the individual's skills 
                and capabilities, and includes a number of employer 
                contacts that is consistent with the standards 
                communicated to the individual by the State;
                    (C) has maintained a record of such work search, 
                including employers contacted, method of contact, and 
                date contacted; and
                    (D) when requested, has provided such work search 
                record to the State agency.
            (2) Random auditing.--The Secretary shall establish for 
        each participating State a minimum number of claims for which 
        work search records must be audited on a random basis in any 
        given week.
    (i) Provision of Services and Activities.--
            (1) In general.--An agreement under subsection (a) shall 
        require the following:
                    (A) The State which is party to such agreement 
                shall provide reemployment services and reemployment 
                and eligibility assessment activities to each 
                individual who receives coal mining emergency 
                unemployment compensation under this Act, while such 
                individual continues to receive such compensation.
                    (B) As a condition of eligibility for coal mining 
                emergency unemployment compensation for any week--
                            (i) a claimant who has been duly referred 
                        to reemployment services shall participate in 
                        such services; and
                            (ii) a claimant shall be actively seeking 
                        work (determined applying subsection (g)).
            (2) Description of services and activities.--The 
        reemployment services and in-person reemployment and 
        eligibility assessment activities provided to individuals 
        receiving coal mining emergency unemployment compensation 
        described in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) shall include--
                            (i) the provision of labor market and 
                        career information;
                            (ii) an assessment of the skills of the 
                        individual;
                            (iii) orientation to the services available 
                        through the one-stop centers established under 
                        title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 
                        1998; and
                            (iv) review of the eligibility of the 
                        individual for emergency unemployment 
                        compensation relating to the job search 
                        activities of the individual; and
                    (B) may include the provision of--
                            (i) comprehensive and specialized 
                        assessments;
                            (ii) individual and group career 
                        counseling;
                            (iii) training services;
                            (iv) additional reemployment services; and
                            (v) job search counseling and the 
                        development or review of an individual 
                        reemployment plan that includes participation 
                        in job search activities and appropriate 
                        workshops.
            (3) Participation requirement.--As a condition of 
        continuing eligibility for coal mining emergency unemployment 
        compensation for any week, an individual who has been referred 
        to reemployment services or reemployment and eligibility 
        assessment activities under this subsection shall participate 
        in such services or activities, unless the State agency 
        responsible for the administration of State unemployment 
        compensation law determines that--
                    (A) such individual has completed participating in 
                such services or activities; or
                    (B) there is justifiable cause for failure to 
                participate or to complete participating in such 
                services or activities, as determined in accordance 
                with guidance to be issued by the Secretary.

SEC. 3. COAL MINING EMERGENCY 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 coal mining emergency unemployment compensation, a coal 
mining emergency 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 the lesser of--
                    (A) 62 percent of the total amount of regular 
                compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable 
                to the individual during the individual's benefit year 
                under such law, or
                    (B) 16 times the individual's average weekly 
                benefit amount for the benefit year.
            (2) Weekly benefit amount.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, an individual's 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.
    (c) Coordination of Coal Mining Emergency Unemployment Compensation 
With Regular Compensation.--
            (1) If--
                    (A) an individual has been determined to be 
                entitled to coal mining emergency unemployment 
                compensation with respect to a benefit year,
                    (B) that benefit year has expired,
                    (C) that individual has remaining entitlement to 
                coal mining emergency unemployment compensation with 
                respect to that benefit year, and
                    (D) that individual would qualify for a new benefit 
                year in which the weekly benefit amount of regular 
                compensation is at least either $100 or 25 percent less 
                than the individual's weekly benefit amount in the 
                benefit year referred to in subparagraph (A),
        then the State shall determine eligibility for compensation as 
        provided in paragraph (2).
            (2) For individuals described in paragraph (1), the State 
        shall determine whether the individual is to be paid coal 
        mining emergency unemployment compensation or regular 
        compensation for a week of unemployment using one of the 
        following methods:
                    (A) The State shall, if permitted by State law, 
                establish a new benefit year, but defer the payment of 
                regular compensation with respect to that new benefit 
                year until exhaustion of all coal mining emergency 
                unemployment compensation payable with respect to the 
                benefit year referred to in paragraph (1)(A).
                    (B) The State shall, if permitted by State law, 
                defer the establishment of a new benefit year (which 
                uses all the wages and employment which would have been 
                used to establish a benefit year but for the 
                application of this paragraph), until exhaustion of all 
                coal mining emergency unemployment compensation payable 
                with respect to the benefit year referred to in 
                paragraph (1)(A).
                    (C) The State shall pay, if permitted by State 
                law--
                            (i) regular compensation equal to the 
                        weekly benefit amount established under the new 
                        benefit year, and
                            (ii) coal mining emergency unemployment 
                        compensation equal to the difference between 
                        that weekly benefit amount and the weekly 
                        benefit amount for the expired benefit year.
                    (D) The State shall determine rights to coal mining 
                emergency unemployment compensation without regard to 
                any rights to regular compensation if the individual 
                elects to not file a claim for regular compensation 
                under the new benefit year.

SEC. 4. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS FOR THE PAYMENT OF COAL 
              MINING EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.

    (a) General Rule.--There shall be paid to each State that has 
entered into an agreement under this Act an amount equal to 100 percent 
of the coal mining emergency 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 participating 
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.--
            (1) Administration.--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.
            (2) Reemployment services and reemployment and eligibility 
        assessment activities.--
                    (A) Appropriation.--There are appropriated from the 
                general fund of the Treasury, out of the employment 
                security administration account (as established by 
                section 901(a) of the Social Security Act), without 
                fiscal year limitation, such sums as determined by the 
                Secretary of Labor in accordance with subparagraph (B) 
                to assist participating States in providing 
                reemployment services and reemployment and eligibility 
                assessment activities described in section 2(i).
                    (B) Determination of total amount.--The amount 
                referred to in subparagraph (A) is the amount the 
                Secretary of Labor estimates is equal to--
                            (i) the number of individuals who will 
                        receive reemployment services and reemployment 
                        eligibility and assessment activities described 
                        in section 2(i) in all participating States 
                        through the date specified in section 8(a)(2); 
                        multiplied by
                            (ii) $85.
                    (C) Distribution among states.--Of the amounts 
                appropriated under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of 
                Labor shall distribute amounts to each participating 
                State, in accordance with section 4(c), that the 
                Secretary estimates is equal to--
                            (i) the number of individuals who will 
                        receive reemployment services and reemployment 
                        and eligibility assessment activities described 
                        in section (2)(i) in such State through the 
                        date specified in section 8(a)(2); multiplied 
                        by
                            (ii) $85.
    (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.
    (e) Transfer of Funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from the general fund of 
the Treasury (from funds not otherwise appropriated)--
            (1) to the extended unemployment compensation account (as 
        established by section 905 of the Social Security Act) such 
        sums as the Secretary of Labor estimates to be necessary to 
        make payments to participating States under this Act; and
            (2) to the employment security administration account (as 
        established by section 901 of the Social Security Act) such 
        sums as the Secretary of Labor estimates to be necessary--
                    (A) in accordance with subsection (c)(1), to assist 
                such States in meeting the costs of administration of 
                agreements under this Act; and
                    (B) in accordance with subsection (c)(2), to assist 
                such States in providing reemployment services and 
                reemployment eligibility and assessment activities 
                described in section 2(h)(2).

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 coal mining emergency unemployment compensation under this 
Act to which such individual was not entitled, such individual--
            (1) shall be ineligible for further emergency 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 coal mining emergency unemployment compensation under this 
Act to which they were not entitled, the State shall require such 
individuals to repay the amounts of such coal mining emergency 
unemployment compensation to the State agency, except that the State 
agency may waive such repayment if it determines that--
            (1) the payment of such coal mining emergency 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 shall recover the amount 
        to be repaid, or any part thereof, by deductions from any coal 
        mining emergency unemployment compensation payable to such 
        individual under this Act or from any unemployment compensation 
        payable to such individual under any State or Federal 
        unemployment compensation law administered by the State agency 
        or under any other State or 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 coal mining emergency unemployment compensation 
        to which they were not entitled, in accordance with the same 
        procedures as apply to the recovery of overpayments of regular 
        unemployment benefits paid by the State.
            (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.--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 24 months after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Termination.--No compensation under this title shall be payable 
for any week subsequent to the last week described in subsection 
(a)(2).
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