[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10532-H10534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RAILROAD UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1996
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2594) to amend the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to
reduce the waiting period for benefits payable under that act, and for
other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2594
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 ``Railroad Unemployment
Insurance Amendments Act of 1996''.
SEC. 2. WAITING PERIOD FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.
Subparagraph (A) of section 2(a)(1) of the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(a)(1)(A)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(A) Payment of Unemployment Benefits.--
``(i) Generally.--Except as otherwise provided in this
subparagraph, benefits shall be payable to any qualified
employee for each day of unemployment in excess of 4 during
any registration period within a period of continuing
unemployment.
``(ii) Waiting period for first registration period.--
Benefits shall be payable to any qualified employee for each
day of unemployment in excess of 7 during that employee's
first registration period in a period of continuing
unemployment if such period of continuing unemployment is the
employee's initial period of continuing unemployment
commencing in the benefit year.
``(iii) Strikes.--
``(I) Initial 14-day waiting period.--If the Board finds
that a qualified employee has a period of continuing
unemployment that includes days of unemployment due to a
stoppage of work because of a strike in the establishment,
premises, or enterprise at which such employee was last
employed, no benefits shall be payable for such employee's
first 14 days of unemployment due to such stoppage of work.
``(II) Subsequent days of unemployment.--For subsequent
days of unemployment due to the same stoppage of work,
benefits shall be payable as provided in clause (i) of this
subparagraph.
``(III) Subsequent periods of continuing unemployment.--If
such period of continuing unemployment ends by reason of
clause (v) but the stoppage of work continues, the waiting
period established in clause (ii) shall apply to the
employee's first registration period in a new period of
continuing unemployment based upon the same stoppage of work.
``(iv) Definition of period of continuing unemployment.--
Except as limited by clause (v), for the purposes of this
subparagraph, the term `period of continuing unemployment'
means--
``(I) a single registration period that includes more than
4 days of unemployment;
``(II) a series of consecutive registration periods, each
of which includes more than 4 days of unemployment; or
``(III) a series of successive registration periods, each
of which includes more than 4 days of unemployment, if each
succeeding registration period begins within 15 days after
the last day of the immediately preceding registration
period.
``(v) Special rule regarding end of period.--For purposes
of applying clause (ii), a period of continuing unemployment
ends when an employee exhausts rights to unemployment
benefits under subsection (c) of this section.
``(vi) Limit on amount of benefits.--No benefits shall be
payable to an otherwise eligible employee for any day of
unemployment in a registration period where the total amount
of the remuneration (as defined in section 1(j)) payable or
accruing to him for days within such registration period
exceeds the amount of the base year monthly compensation
base. For purposes of the preceding sentence, an employee's
remuneration shall be deemed to include the gross amount of
any remuneration that would have become payable to that
employee but did not become payable because that employee was
not ready or willing to perform suitable work available to
that employee on any day within such registration period.''.
SEC. 3. WAITING PERIOD FOR SICKNESS BENEFITS.
Subparagraph (B) of section 2(a)(1) of the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(a)(1)(B)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(B) Payment of Sickness Benefits.--
``(i) Generally.--Except as otherwise provided in this
subparagraph, benefits shall be payable to any qualified
employee for each day of sickness after the 4th consecutive
day of sickness in a period of continuing sickness but
excluding 4 days of sickness in any registration period in
such period of continuing sickness.
``(ii) Waiting period for first registration period.--
Benefits shall be payable to any qualified employee for each
day of sickness in excess of 7 during that employee's first
registration period in a period of continuing sickness if
such period of continuing sickness is the employee's initial
period of continuing sickness commencing in the benefit year.
For the purposes of this clause, the first registration
period in a period of continuing sickness is that
registration period that first begins with 4 consecutive days
of sickness and includes more than 4 days of sickness.
``(iii) Definition of period of continuing sickness.--For
the purposes of this subparagraph, a period of continuing
sickness means--
``(I) a period of consecutive days of sickness, whether
from 1 or more causes; or
``(II) a period of successive days of sickness due to a
single cause without interruption of more than 90 consecutive
days which are not days of sickness.
``(iv) Special rule regarding end of period.--For purposes
of applying clause (ii), a period of continuing sickness ends
when an employee exhausts rights to sickness benefits under
subsection (c) of this section.''.
SEC. 4. MAXIMUM DAILY BENEFIT RATE.
Paragraph (3) of section 2(a) of the Railroad Unemployment
Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(a)(3)) is amended to read as
follows:
``(3) The maximum daily benefit rate computed by the Board
under section 12(r)(2) shall be the product of the monthly
compensation base, as computed under section 1(i)(2) for the
base year immediately preceding the beginning of the benefit
year, multiplied by 5 percent. If the maximum daily benefit
rate so computed is not a multiple of $1, it shall be rounded
down to the nearest multiple of $1.''.
SEC. 5. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DAYS FOR BENEFITS.
(a) In General.--Subsection (c) of section 2 of the
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(c)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(c) Maximum Number of Days for Benefits.--
``(1) Normal benefits.--
``(A) Generally.--The maximum number of days of
unemployment within a benefit year for which benefits may be
paid to an employee shall be 130, and the maximum number of
days of sickness within a benefit year for which benefits may
be paid to an employee shall be 130.
``(B) Limitation.--The total amount of benefits that may be
paid to an employee for days of unemployment within a benefit
year shall in no case exceed the employee's compensation in
the base year; and the total amount of benefits that may be
paid to an employee for days of sickness within a benefit
year shall in no case exceed the employee's compensation in
the base year, except that notwithstanding section 1(i), in
determining the employee's compensation in the base year for
the purpose of this sentence, any money remuneration paid to
the employee for services rendered as an employee shall be
taken into account that is not in excess of an amount that
bears the same ratio to $775 as the monthly compensation base
for that year as computed under section 1(i) bears to $600.
``(2) Extended benefits.--
``(A) Generally.--With respect to an employee who has 10 or
more years of service as defined in section 1(f) of the
Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, who did not voluntarily
retire and (in a case involving exhaustion of rights to
normal benefits for days of unemployment) did not voluntarily
leave work without good cause, and who had current rights to
normal benefits for days of unemployment or days of sickness
in a benefit year but has exhausted such rights, the benefit
year in which such rights are exhausted shall be deemed not
to be ended until the last day of the extended benefit period
determined under this paragraph, and extended unemployment
benefits or extended sickness benefits (depending on the type
of normal benefit rights exhausted) may be paid for not more
than 65 days of unemployment or 65 days of sickness within
such extended benefit period.
[[Page H10533]]
``(B) Beginning date.--An employee's extended benefit
period shall begin on the employee's first day of
unemployment or first day of sickness, as the case may be,
following the day on which the employee exhausts the
employee's then current rights to normal benefits for days of
unemployment or days of sickness and shall continue for 7
consecutive 14-day periods, each of which shall constitute a
registration period, but no such extended benefit period
shall extend beyond the beginning of the first registration
period in a benefit year in which the employee is again
qualified for benefits in accordance with section 3 on the
basis of compensation earned after the first of such
consecutive 14-day periods has begun.
``(C) Termination when employee reaches age of 65.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, an
extended benefit period for sickness benefits shall terminate
on the day next preceding the date on which the employee
attains age 65, except that it may continue for the purpose
of paying benefits for days of unemployment.
``(3) Accelerated benefits.--
``(A) General rule.--With respect to an employee who has 10
or more years of service as defined in section 1(f) of the
Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, who did not voluntarily
retire, and (in a case involving unemployment benefits) did
not voluntarily leave work without good cause, who has 14 or
more consecutive days of unemployment, or 14 or more
consecutive days of sickness, and who is not a qualified
employee with respect to the general benefit year current
when such unemployment or sickness commences but is or
becomes a qualified employee for the next succeeding general
benefit year, such succeeding general benefit year shall, in
that employee's case, begin on the first day of the month in
which such unemployment or sickness commences.
``(B) Exception.--In the case of a succeeding benefit year
beginning in accordance with subparagraph (A) by reason of
sickness, such sentence shall not operate to permit the
payment of benefits in the period provided for in such
sentence for any day of sickness beginning with the date on
which the employee attains age 65, and continuing through the
day preceding the first day of the next succeeding general
benefit year.
``(C) Determination of age.--For the purposes of this
subsection, the Board may rely on evidence of age available
in its records and files at the time determinations of age
are made.''.
(b) Repeal of Deadwood Provision.--Section 2(h) of the
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(h)) is
repealed.
(c) Repeal of Expired Provision.--Section 17 of the
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 368), relating
to payment of supplemental unemployment benefits, is
repealed.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the
date of the enactment of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] and the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr.
Borski] each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster].
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2594, the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Amendments of 1996. This bill was reported out
of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure last November and
enjoyed the full support of both labor and rail management.
This bill is good for railroad workers. It reforms, it has reforms in
it which are very significant. It will increase the daily unemployment
benefits for railroad workers from $36 to $42, in line with other
nonrailroad workers. It reduces the waiting period before benefits
begin to accrue from 14 days to 7 days. This will produce an immediate
gain of $294 for any unemployed rail worker.
It is no secret that the railroads have been reducing the size of
their work forces. In fact, rail employment is less than half what it
was in 1975.
By increasing unemployment benefits for rail workers to bring them in
line with other nonrail workers across America, H.R. 2594 provides a
little more security for workers who know that they, too, could one day
be affected by a layoff.
It is high time that the rail unemployment benefits were reformed.
Some of my colleagues may remember that a virtually identical bill was
passed by the 103d Congress. The legislation was never taken up by the
Senate. The issue has languished ever since. We now have an opportunity
to get this bill passed. It should not be missed. Both rail labor and
rail management support this legislation. I urge my colleagues to
support it.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the bill, and I
yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Lipinski].
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania
for yielding me the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2594, the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Amendments Act of 1996.
This bill has been pending for over 3 years. It was first introduced
by our former colleague Al Swift in the 103d Congress. It passed the
House on suspension but, like too many other good bills, died in the
other body when a single Senator put a hold on it.
The bill was introduced again last year by the bipartisan leadership
of our committee and was quickly reported out by a voice vote. The bill
is supported by both Republicans and Democrats, by both rail labor and
rail management. The bill has four major provisions. Two favor
management and the other two favor labor. Both sides feel the bill is a
good deal for them.
The bill raises benefit levels so that they are more in line with
benefits being paid by the States for nonrailroad employees. It also
shortens the waiting time before rail workers qualify for unemployment
and sickness benefits. On the other hand, it reduces the number of
weeks of benefits received by employees with more than 15 years
seniority, and it places a limit on the earnings of employees who are
receiving benefits.
Action on this bill has been held up by having various controversial
amendments attached to it in the past. The manager's amendment makes
some clarifying changes to the committee-reported bill that have been
worked out jointly by the majority and minority staffs. I am happy to
report that we now have a clean bill that all of us can support. I
recommend the bill to my colleagues and urge its passage.
{time} 1145
Mr. BORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I simply emphasize there are no taxpayer dollars
involved in this. This is totally financed by the railroad industry and
the railroad workers.
With that, I urge support.
Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Ways and Means has a strong
historical interest and involvement in the financing of the railroad
unemployment compensation [RRUC] system. The RRUC has been in existence
since 1938. Railroad workers were initially covered by the unemployment
provisions of the Social Security Act of 1935, until the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Act (Public Law 75-722) was passed in 1938 to
provide a uniform unemployment insurance system for railroad workers.
The committee has been closely involved in recent legislation
concerning the RRUC. The Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of
1988 (Public Law 100-647) increased the railroad unemployment and
sickness daily benefit rate, indexed future benefit rates, qualifying
earnings requirements and the contribution base to national wage
levels, established a waiting period for benefits, and included other
measures to improve the railroad unemployment insurance system's
financing. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991, as
amended in November 1993 (Public Laws 102-164 and 103-152), provided
temporary extended State unemployment benefits, and also provided
temporary extended benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance
Act.
The railroad unemployment and sickness benefit programs are financed
by payroll taxes on railroad employers. The Railroad Unemployment
Insurance and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Administration Accounts
are part of the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund.
Since 1959, the Railroad Unemployment Trust Fund has been able to
borrow funds from the railroad pension fund when employer taxes have
not been sufficient to cover the costs of unemployment and sickness
benefits. The RRUC program became depleted during the 1960's and
1970's. A rapid decline in 1981 and 1982 in railroad employment
resulted in substantial borrowing from the pension system which reached
peak levels at the end of 1986. Financial measures to assist the
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Account were included in the Railroad
Retirement Solvency Act enacted August 12, 1983.
A temporary repayment tax on railroad employers began on July 1,
1986, to initiate repayment of the loans made by the Railroad
Retirement Account. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of April 1986
[[Page H10534]]
(Public Law 99-272) amended the temporary unemployment insurance loan
repayment tax beginning July 1, 1986, continued authority for borrowing
by the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Account from the Railroad
Retirement Account, and provided a contingency surtax on rail employers
if further borrowing took place. The contingency surtax was replaced in
1991 by a surcharge added to employers' unemployment insurance taxes
for a calendar year if the balance in the unemployment insurance
account goes below $100 million.
The 1988 Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act railroad
unemployment insurance amendments improved financing by indexing the
tax base to average national wages and experience-rating employer
contributions. The 1988 amendments required the Board to make annual
financial reports to Congress on the status of the unemployment
insurance system. The unemployment insurance financial report that was
submitted in June 1993, before the loan was repaid in full, stated that
the experience-based contribution rates would keep the system solvent,
even under the most pessimistic employment assumptions. The report also
indicated that no new loans will be required during the 10-year
projection period (fiscal years 1993-2002). The Board therefore
recommended no changes to the system at that time. However, given the
cash outlay subsequently applied to the repayment of the prior loans,
subsequent estimates indicate that new loans in small amounts could,
under pessimistic assumptions, possibly be required during part of the
projection period.
With respect to H.R. 2594, the benefit increases contained in the
bill are offset by increased tax revenues on rail employers by
operation of current law, since employer contributions increase
automatically as benefits increase. Therefore, no changes to the
revenue laws are required to implement the provisions of H.R. 2594.
However, because of the recent history of financial difficulties in the
RRUC system, the committee will continue to closely monitor the overall
financial solvency of the RRUC system, especially in light of this most
recent benefit increase.
Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2594. This
bipartisan bill is long overdue and will greatly improve the
unemployment insurance system for the over 4,200 railroad workers in my
home State of West Virginia.
This legislation was crafted by both management and labor of our
Nation's railroad and will amend the existing unemployment insurance
system. Last November the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee marked up this bill and unanimously recommended passage by
the full House.
This legislation will make several needed changes to the railroad
unemployment insurance system. First, it will increase the maximum
daily benefits from $36 to $42 for the current benefit year and
establish a new formula for determining the benefits so that they will
increase automatically in the future. Second, this legislation will
shorten the waiting period before and employee is eligible to receive
unemployment and sickness benefits from 14 days to 7 days. These
changes are especially important to railroad workers who experience
seasonal layoffs during the winter months.
This bill is a reasonable balance between labor and management
concerns and I applaud both sides for their willingness to work
together on this legislation. I support this bill and hope that my
colleagues in the other body would act on this legislation quickly.
Ms. MOLINARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2594, the
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Amendments Act of 1996. This important
legislation will modernize railroad unemployment and sickness benefits
so that they are more in keeping with the State systems that apply to
all other industries.
Too often Republicans are accused of supporting the interests of big
business over those of the working people. I am pleased today to stand
in support of legislation that will directly benefit the interests of
working people. H.R. 2594 will increase the daily benefits payable to
unemployed rail workers from $36 to $42. It will also reduce the
waiting time before benefits begin to accrue from 14 days to 7 days.
This means an automatic increase of $294 for any qualified employees.
The cost to the industry of these increased benefits will be partially
offset by a reduction in the maximum number of days of extended
benefits, and a reduction in the permissible amount of outside income.
These increased rail unemployment benefits will not impost any
additional costs on the American taxpayer. Because the railroad
unemployment system is funded through payroll taxes, the industry will
bear the full costs of the new benefits.
This bill has been awaiting enactment for a long time. The House
passed virtually identical legislation in the 103d Congress, but it was
never taken up by the Senate. Because of the complicated budgetary
effects of the legislation, it has taken a long time to be able to
bring the legislation to this point. I also want to thank my colleagues
on the Budget Committee for assisting our efforts in bringing this
legislation forward.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 2594.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bereuter). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2594, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________