Reemployment Tax Credit Act of 1998

Summary: Reemployment Tax Credit Act of 1998 - Amends the Internal Revenue Act to extend the employer work opportunity tax credit to include qualified dislocated workers.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reemployment Tax Credit Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT.

    (a) Qualified Dislocated Workers Treated as Members of Targeted 
Groups.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 51(d) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to members of targeted 
        groups) is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of 
        subparagraph (G), by striking the period at the end of 
        subparagraph (H) and inserting ``, or'', and by adding at the 
        end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(I) a qualified dislocated worker.''.
            (2) Qualified dislocated worker.--Section 51(d) of such 
        Code is amended by redesignating paragraphs (10), (11), and 
        (12) as paragraphs (11), (12), and (13), respectively, and by 
        inserting after paragraph (9) the following new paragraph:
            ``(10) Qualified dislocated worker.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `qualified dislocated 
                worker' means any individual who is certified by the 
                designated local agency as--
                            ``(i) being eligible for unemployment 
                        compensation (within the meaning of section 85) 
                        as a result of loss of employment at a work-
                        site located in an economic dislocation area,
                            ``(ii) having a hiring date which is not 
                        later than 90 days after the date on which the 
                        individual becomes eligible for such 
                        unemployment compensation, and
                            ``(iii) being offered employment at a work-
                        site which is not more than 60 miles from the 
                        previous work-site of the individual.
                    ``(B) Certification of economic dislocation area.--
                            ``(i) Certification.--Not later than 20 
                        days after an application for certification of 
                        a community as an economic dislocation area is 
                        received by the Assistant Secretary of Economic 
                        Development of the Department of Commerce under 
                        clause (ii), the Assistant Secretary shall 
                        certify whether or not the community is an 
                        economic dislocation area as determined under 
                        subparagraph (C) or (D).
                            ``(ii) Application.--For purposes of clause 
                        (i), the application for certification shall be 
                        submitted by the Governor of the State (or the 
                        Governor's designee) in which the community for 
                        which certification is being sought is located 
                        and shall be in such form and contain such 
                        information as the Assistant Secretary may 
                        require in order to determine whether the 
                        community is an economic dislocation area.
                    ``(C) Communities located in a metropolitan 
                statistical area.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (E), a community located in a metropolitan statistical 
                area (within the meaning of section 143(k)(2)(B)) shall 
                be certified as an economic dislocation area if the 
                community suffers actual or threatened permanent job 
                loss and--
                            ``(i) in the case of a metropolitan 
                        statistical area in which the unemployment rate 
                        is greater than the national average, the job 
                        loss in the community is equal to or greater 
                        than the lesser of--
                                    ``(I) 0.5 percent of the employed 
                                population in the community, or
                                    ``(II) 4,000, or
                            ``(ii) in the case of a metropolitan 
                        statistical area in which the unemployment rate 
                        is equal to or less than the national average, 
                        the job loss in the community is equal to or 
                        greater than the lesser of--
                                    ``(I) 1 percent of the employed 
                                population in the community, or
                                    ``(II) 8,000.
                    ``(D) Communities not located in a metropolitan 
                statistical area.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (E), a community that is not located in a metropolitan 
                statistical area shall be certified as an economic 
                dislocation area if the community suffers actual or 
                threatened permanent job loss and--
                            ``(i) if the unemployment rate of the Labor 
                        Market Area in which the community is located 
                        is greater than the national average, the job 
                        loss in the community is equal to or greater 
                        than the lesser of--
                                    ``(I) 2 percent of the employed 
                                population in the community, or
                                    ``(II) 500, or
                            ``(ii) if the unemployment rate of the 
                        Labor Market Area in which the community is 
                        located is equal to or less than the national 
                        average, the job loss in the community is equal 
                        to or greater than the lesser of--
                                    ``(I) 4 percent of the employed 
                                population in the community, or
                                    ``(II) 1,000.
                    ``(E) Required job loss percentage.--A community 
                shall not be certified under this paragraph as an 
                economic dislocation area unless at least--
                            ``(i) 50 percent of the job loss in the 
                        community is the result of the action of a 
                        single employer, or
                            ``(ii) 80 percent of such job loss occurs 
                        in a single standard industry 
                        classification.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to individuals who begin work for the employer after December 31, 
1998.