I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3427 

To provide for the availability of self-employment assistance to individuals 

receiving extended compensation or emergency unemployment compensation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2011 

Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. STARK, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and 

Mr. RANGEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on 

Financial Services, Small Business, and Appropriations, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the availability of self-employment assistance 

to individuals receiving extended compensation or emergency unemployment compensation. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Startup Technical As5 sistance for Reemployment Training and Unemployment 

6 Prevention Act’’ or the ‘‘STARTUP Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATE ADMINISTRATION OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT 

2 ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) AVAILABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING EX4 TENDED COMPENSATION.—Title II of the Federal-State 

5 Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 

6 U.S.C. 3304 note) is amended by inserting at the end the 

7 following new section: 

8 ‘‘AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT SELF-EMPLOYMENT

9 ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

10 ‘‘SEC. 208. (a)(1) At the option of a State, for any 

11 weeks of unemployment beginning after the date of enact12 ment of this section, the State agency of the State may 

13 establish a self-employment assistance program, as de14 scribed in subsection (b), to provide for the payment of 

15 extended compensation as self-employment assistance al16 lowances to individuals who would otherwise satisfy the 

17 eligibility criteria under this title. 

18 ‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the self-employment 

19 assistance allowance described in paragraph (1) shall be 

20 paid to an eligible individual from such individual’s ex21 tended compensation account, as described in section 

22 202(b), and the amount in such account shall be reduced 

23 accordingly. 

24 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), for purposes 

25 of self-employment assistance programs established under 

26 this section and section 4001(h) of the Supplemental ApVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:08 Nov 16, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3427.IH H3427

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1 propriations Act, 2008, an individual shall be provided 

2 with self-employment assistance allowances under such 

3 programs for a total of not greater than 26 weeks (re4 ferred to in this section as the ‘combined eligibility limit’). 

5 ‘‘(B) For purposes of an individual who is partici6 pating in a self-employment assistance program estab7 lished under this section and has not reached the com8 bined eligibility limit as of the date on which such indi9 vidual exhausts all rights to extended compensation under 

10 this title, the individual shall be eligible to receive self11 employment assistance allowances under a self-employ12 ment assistance program established under section 

13 4001(h) of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008, 

14 until such individual has reached the combined eligibility 

15 limit, provided that the individual otherwise satisfies the 

16 eligibility criteria described under title IV of such Act. 

17 ‘‘(b) For the purposes of this section, the term ‘self18 employment assistance program’ means a program as de19 fined under section 3306(t) of the Internal Revenue Code 

20 of 1986, except as follows: 

21 ‘‘(1) all references to ‘regular unemployment 

22 compensation under the State law’ shall be deemed 

23 to refer instead to ‘extended compensation under 

24 title II of the Federal-State Extended Unemploy25 ment Compensation Act of 1970’; 


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1 ‘‘(2) paragraph (3)(B) shall not apply; 

2 ‘‘(3) clause (i) of paragraph (3)(C) shall be 

3 deemed to state as follows: 

4 ‘‘ ‘(i) include any entrepreneurial 

5 training that the State or non-profit orga6 nizations may provide in coordination with 

7 programs of training offered by the Small 

8 Business Administration, which may in9 clude business counseling, mentorship for 

10 participants, access to small business de11 velopment resources, and technical assist12 ance; and’; 

13 ‘‘(4) the reference to ‘5 percent’ in paragraph 

14 (4) shall be deemed to refer instead to ‘1 percent’; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(5) paragraph (5) shall not apply. 

17 ‘‘(c) In the case of an individual who is eligible to 

18 receive extended compensation under this title, such indi19 vidual shall not receive self-employment assistance allow20 ances under this section unless the State agency has a 

21 reasonable expectation that such individual will be entitled 

22 to at least 13 times the individual’s average weekly benefit 

23 amount of extended compensation and emergency unem24 ployment compensation. 


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1 ‘‘(d)(1) An individual who is participating in a self2 employment assistance program established under this 

3 section may elect to discontinue participation in such pro4 gram at any time. 

5 ‘‘(2) For purposes of an individual whose participa6 tion in a self-employment assistance program established 

7 under this section is terminated pursuant to subsection 

8 (a)(3) or who has discontinued participation in such pro9 gram, if the individual continues to satisfy the eligibility 

10 requirements for extended compensation under this title, 

11 the individual shall receive extended compensation pay12 ments with respect to subsequent weeks of unemployment, 

13 to the extent that amounts remain in the account estab14 lished for such individual under section 202(b).’’. 

15 (b) AVAILABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING

16 EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.—Section 

17 4001 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub18 lic Law 110–252; 26 U.S.C. 3304 note) is amended by 

19 inserting at the end the following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(h) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT SELF-EMPLOYMENT

21 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

23 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Any agreement 

24 under subsection (a) may provide that the State 

25 agency of the State shall establish a self-emVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:08 Nov 16, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3427.IH H3427

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1 ployment assistance program, as described in 

2 paragraph (2), to provide for the payment of 

3 emergency unemployment compensation as self4 employment assistance allowances to individuals 

5 who would otherwise satisfy the eligibility cri6 teria specified in subsection (b). 

7 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT OF ALLOWANCES.—Subject 

8 to subparagraph (C), the self-employment as9 sistance allowance described in subparagraph 

10 (A) shall be paid to an eligible individual from 

11 such individual’s emergency unemployment 

12 compensation account, as described in section 

13 4002, and the amount in such account shall be 

14 reduced accordingly. 

15 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON SELF-EMPLOYMENT

16 ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING EX17 TENDED COMPENSATION AND EMERGENCY UN18 EMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.— 

19 ‘‘(i) COMBINED ELIGIBILITY LIMIT.— 

20 Subject to clause (ii), for purposes of self21 employment assistance programs estab22 lished under this subsection and section 

23 208 of the Federal-State Extended Unem24 ployment Compensation Act of 1970, an 

25 individual shall be provided with self-emVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:08 Nov 16, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3427.IH H3427

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1 ployment assistance allowances under such 

2 programs for a total of not greater than 26 

3 weeks (referred to in this subsection as the 

4 ‘combined eligibility limit’). 

5 ‘‘(ii) CARRYOVER RULE.—For pur6 poses of an individual who is participating 

7 in a self-employment assistance program 

8 established under this subsection and has 

9 not reached the combined eligibility limit 

10 as of the date on which such individual ex11 hausts all rights to extended compensation 

12 under this title, the individual shall be eli13 gible to receive self-employment assistance 

14 allowances under a self-employment assist15 ance program established under section 

16 208 of the Federal-State Extended Unem17 ployment Compensation Act of 1970 until 

18 such individual has reached the combined 

19 eligibility limit, provided that the indi20 vidual otherwise satisfies the eligibility cri21 teria described under title II of such Act. 

22 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF ‘SELF-EMPLOYMENT AS23 SISTANCE PROGRAM’.—For the purposes of this sec24 tion, the term ‘self-employment assistance program’ 

25 means a program as defined under section 3306(t) 


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1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, except as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(A) all references to ‘regular unemploy4 ment compensation under the State law’ shall 

5 be deemed to refer instead to ‘emergency unem6 ployment compensation under title IV of the 

7 Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008’; 

8 ‘‘(B) paragraph (3)(B) shall not apply; 

9 ‘‘(C) clause (i) of paragraph (3)(C) shall 

10 be deemed to state as follows: 

11 ‘‘ ‘(i) include any entrepreneurial 

12 training that the State or non-profit orga13 nizations may provide in coordination with 

14 programs of training offered by the Small 

15 Business Administration, which may in16 clude business counseling, mentorship for 

17 participants, access to small business de18 velopment resources, and technical assist19 ance; and’; 

20 ‘‘(D) the reference to ‘5 percent’ in para21 graph (4) shall be deemed to refer instead to ‘1 

22 percent’; and 

23 ‘‘(E) paragraph (5) shall not apply. 

24 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT AS25 SISTANCE ALLOWANCES.—In the case of an indiVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:08 Nov 16, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3427.IH H3427

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1 vidual who is eligible to receive emergency unemploy2 ment compensation payment under this title, such 

3 individual shall not receive self-employment assist4 ance allowances under this subsection unless the 

5 State agency has a reasonable expectation that such 

6 individual will be entitled to at least 13 times the in7 dividual’s average weekly benefit amount of extended 

8 compensation and emergency unemployment com9 pensation. 

10 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPANT OPTION TO TERMINATE PAR11 TICIPATION IN SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PRO12 GRAM.— 

13 ‘‘(A) TERMINATION.—An individual who is 

14 participating in a self-employment assistance 

15 program established under this subsection may 

16 elect to discontinue participation in such pro17 gram at any time. 

18 ‘‘(B) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY FOR EMER19 GENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.—For 

20 purposes of an individual whose participation in 

21 the self-employment assistance program estab22 lished under this subsection is terminated pur23 suant to paragraph (1)(C) or who has discon24 tinued participation in such program, if the in25 dividual continues to satisfy the eligibility reVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:08 Nov 16, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3427.IH H3427

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1 quirements for emergency unemployment com2 pensation under this title, the individual shall 

3 receive emergency unemployment compensation 

4 payments with respect to subsequent weeks of 

5 unemployment, to the extent that amounts re6 main in the account established for such indi7 vidual under section 4002(b) or to the extent 

8 that such individual commences receiving the 

9 amounts described in subsections (c), (d), or (e) 

10 of such section, respectively.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PRO12 GRAMS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OR IMPROVED ADMINIS15 TRATION.—Subject to the requirements established 

16 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall award 

17 grants to States for the purposes of— 

18 (A) improved administration of self-em19 ployment assistance programs that have been 

20 established, prior to the date of enactment of 

21 this Act, pursuant to section 3306(t) of the In22 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 

23 3306(t)), for individuals who are eligible to re24 ceive regular unemployment compensation; 


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1 (B) development, implementation, and ad2 ministration of self-employment assistance pro3 grams that are established, subsequent to the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, pursuant to sec5 tion 3306(t) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986, for individuals who are eligible to receive 

7 regular unemployment compensation; and 

8 (C) development, implementation, and ad9 ministration of self-employment assistance pro10 grams that are established pursuant to section 

11 208 of the Federal-State Extended Unemploy12 ment Compensation Act of 1970 or section 

13 4001(h) of the Supplemental Appropriations 

14 Act, 2008, for individuals who are eligible to re15 ceive extended compensation or emergency un16 employment compensation. 

17 (2) PROMOTION AND ENROLLMENT.—Subject 

18 to the requirements established under subsection (b), 

19 the Secretary shall award additional grants to States 

20 that submit approved applications for a grant under 

21 paragraph (1) for such States to promote self-em22 ployment assistance programs and enroll unem23 ployed individuals in such programs. 

24 (b) APPLICATION AND DISBURSAL.— 


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1 (1) APPLICATION.—Any State seeking a grant 

2 under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) shall 

3 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 

4 in such manner, and containing such information as 

5 is determined appropriate by the Secretary. In no 

6 case shall the Secretary award a grant under this 

7 section with respect to an application that is sub8 mitted after December 31, 2013. 

9 (2) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after re10 ceiving an application described in paragraph (1) 

11 from a State, the Secretary shall notify the State 

12 agency as to whether a grant has been approved for 

13 such State for the purposes described in subsection 

14 (a). 

15 (3) CERTIFICATION.—If the Secretary deter16 mines that a State has met the requirements for a 

17 grant under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 

18 a certification to that effect to the Secretary of the 

19 Treasury, as well as a certification as to the amount 

20 of the grant payment to be transferred to the State 

21 account in the Unemployment Trust Fund under 

22 section 904 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 1104). The Secretary of the Treasury shall make the 

24 appropriate transfer to the State account not later 

25 than 7 days after receiving such certification. 


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1 (c) ALLOTMENT FACTORS.—For purposes of allot2 ting the funds available under subsection (d) to States 

3 that have met the requirements for a grant under this sec4 tion, the amount of the grant provided to each State shall 

5 be determined based upon the percentage of unemployed 

6 individuals in the State relative to the percentage of unem7 ployed individuals in all States. 

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION.—For purposes of carrying out 

9 the grant program under this section, there is authorized 

10 to be appropriated $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

11 2012 through 2014. 

12 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE AND GUIDANCE IN IMPLEMENTING 

13 SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

14 (a) MODEL LANGUAGE AND GUIDANCE.—For pur15 poses of assisting States in establishing, improving, and 

16 administering self-employment assistance programs, the 

17 Secretary shall— 

18 (1) develop model language that may be used 

19 by States in enacting such programs, as well as peri20 odically review and revise such model language; and 

21 (2) provide technical assistance and guidance in 

22 establishing, improving, and administering such pro23 grams. 

24 (b) REPORTING AND EVALUATION.— 


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1 (1) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall establish 

2 reporting requirements for States that have estab3 lished self-employment assistance programs, which 

4 shall include reporting on— 

5 (A) the total number of individuals who re6 ceived unemployment compensation and— 

7 (i) were referred to a self-employment 

8 assistance program; 

9 (ii) participated in such program; and 

10 (iii) received an allowance under such 

11 program; 

12 (B) the total amount of allowances pro13 vided to individuals participating in a self-em14 ployment assistance program; 

15 (C) the total income (as determined by 

16 survey or other appropriate method) for busi17 nesses that have been established by individuals 

18 participating in a self-employment assistance 

19 program, as well as the total number of individ20 uals employed through such businesses; and 

21 (D) any additional information, as deter22 mined appropriate by the Secretary. 

23 (2) EVALUATION.—Not later than 5 years after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

25 shall submit to Congress a report that evaluates the 


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1 effectiveness of self-employment assistance programs 

2 established by States, including— 

3 (A) an analysis of the implementation and 

4 operation of self-employment assistance pro5 grams by States; 

6 (B) an evaluation of the economic out7 comes for individuals who participated in a self8 employment assistance program as compared to 

9 individuals who received unemployment com10 pensation and did not participate in a self-em11 ployment assistance program, including a com12 parison as to employment status, income, and 

13 duration of receipt of unemployment compensa14 tion or self-employment assistance allowances; 

15 and 

16 (C) an evaluation of the state of the busi17 nesses started by individuals who participated 

18 in a self-employment assistance program, in19 cluding information regarding— 

20 (i) the type of businesses established; 

21 (ii) the sustainability of the busi22 nesses; 

23 (iii) the total income collected by the 

24 businesses; 


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1 (iv) the total number of individuals 

2 employed through such businesses; and 

3 (v) the estimated Federal and State 

4 tax revenue collected from such businesses 

5 and their employees. 

6 (c) FLEXIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—The model 

7 language, guidance, and reporting requirements developed 

8 by the Secretary under subsections (a) and (b) shall— 

9 (1) allow sufficient flexibility for States and 

10 participating individuals; and 

11 (2) ensure accountability and program integ12 rity. 

13 (d) CONSULTATION.—For purposes of developing the 

14 model language, guidance, and reporting requirements de15 scribed under subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall 

16 consult with employers, labor organizations, State agen17 cies, and other relevant program experts. 

18 (e) ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.—The 

19 Secretary shall utilize resources available through the De20 partment of Labor and coordinate with the Administrator 

21 of the Small Business Administration to ensure that ade22 quate funding is reserved and made available for the provi23 sion of entrepreneurial training to individuals partici24 pating in self-employment assistance programs. 


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1 (f) SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

2 For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘self-employment 

3 assistance program’’ means a program established pursu4 ant to section 3306(t) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 (26 U.S.C. 3306(t)), section 208 of the Federal6 State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 

7 1970, or section 4001(h) of the Supplemental Appropria8 tions Act, 2008, for individuals who are eligible to receive 

9 regular unemployment compensation, extended compensa10 tion, or emergency unemployment compensation. 

11 SEC. 5. PROGRAMS OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRA12 TION. 

13 (a) REPEAL OF AUTHORITY FOR THE PROGRAM FOR

14 INVESTMENT IN MICROENTREPRENEURS.— 

15 (1) REPEAL.—Subtitle C of title I of the Riegle 

16 Community Development and Regulatory Improve17 ment Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) is re18 pealed. 

19 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

20 subsection shall affect any grant or assistance pro21 vided under subtitle C of title I of the Riegle Com22 munity Development and Regulatory Improvement 

23 Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) before the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, and any such grant 

25 or assistance shall be subject to such subtitle C, as 


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1 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 

2 this Act. 

3 (b) LOAN MODERNIZATION AND ACCOUNTING SYS4 TEM; SPECIAL PURPOSE COUNSELING GRANTS.— 

5 (1) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available 

6 under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, for 

7 the appropriations account appropriated under the 

8 heading ‘‘SALARIES AND EXPENSES’’ under the 

9 heading ‘‘SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRA10 TION’’— 

11 (A) not more than $7,100,000 may be ex12 pended for the Loan Modernization and Ac13 counting System; and 

14 (B) $5,100,000 is rescinded. 

15 (2) TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis16 trator of the Small Business Administration shall 

17 terminate the Special Purpose Counseling Grant 

18 program under section 21 of the Small Business Act 

19 (15 U.S.C. 648). 

20 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Labor. 

24 (2) STATE; STATE AGENCY.—The terms 

25 ‘‘State’’ and ‘‘State agency’’ have the meanings 


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1 given such terms under section 205 of the Federal2 State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 

3 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note). 

Æ 


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