I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION 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.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 8, 1995

Mr. SHUSTER (for himself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. WISE, Mr.

RAHALL, and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to

reduce the waiting period for benefits payable under that

Act, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Railroad Unemploy5 ment Insurance Amendments Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. WAITING PERIOD FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.

7 Subparagraph (A) of section 2(a)(1) of the Railroad

8 Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(a)(1)(A)) is

9 amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(A) PAYMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.—

2 ‘‘(i) GENERALLY.—Except as otherwise pro3 vided in this subparagraph, benefits shall be payable

4 to any qualified employee for each day of unemploy5 ment in excess of 4 during any registration period

6 within a period of continuing unemployment.

7 ‘‘(ii) WAITING PERIOD FOR FIRST REGISTRA8 TION PERIOD.—Benefits shall be payable to any

9 qualified employee for each day of unemployment in

10 excess of 7 during that employee’s first registration

11 period in a period of continuing unemployment if—

12 ‘‘(I) such registration period includes more

13 than 4 days of unemployment; and

14 ‘‘(II) such period of continuing unemploy15 ment is the employee’s initial period of continu16 ing unemployment in the benefit year.

17 ‘‘(iii) STRIKES.—

18 ‘‘(I) INITIAL 14-DAY WAITING PERIOD.—If

19 the Board finds that a qualified employee has

20 a period of continuing unemployment that in21 cludes days of unemployment due to a stoppage

22 of work because of a strike in the establish23 ment, premises, or enterprise at which such em24 ployee was last employed, no benefits shall be
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1 payable for such employee’s first 14 days of un2 employment due to such stoppage of work.

3 ‘‘(II) SUBSEQUENT DAYS OF UNEMPLOY4 MENT.—For subsequent days of unemployment

5 due to the same stoppage of work, benefits shall

6 be payable as provided in clause (i) of this sub7 paragraph.

8 ‘‘(III) SUBSEQUENT PERIODS OF CONTINU9 ING UNEMPLOYMENT.—If such period of con10 tinuing unemployment ends by reason of clause

11 (v) but the stoppage of work continues, the

12 waiting period established in clause (ii) shall

13 apply to the employee’s first registration period

14 in a new period of continuing unemployment

15 based upon the same stoppage of work.

16 ‘‘(iv) DEFINITION OF PERIOD OF CONTINUING

17 UNEMPLOYMENT.—Except as limited by clause (v),

18 for the purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘pe19 riod of continuing unemployment’ means—

20 ‘‘(I) a single registration period that in21 cludes more than 4 days of unemployment;

22 ‘‘(II) a series of consecutive registration

23 periods, each of which includes more than 4

24 days of unemployment; or
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1 ‘‘(III) a series of successive registration pe2 riods, each of which includes more than 4 days

3 of unemployment, if each succeeding registra4 tion period begins within 15 days after the last

5 day of the immediately preceding registration

6 period.

7 ‘‘(v) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING END OF PE8 RIOD.—For purposes of applying clause (ii), a period

9 of continuing unemployment ends when an employee

10 exhausts rights to unemployment benefits under sub11 section (c) of this section.

12 ‘‘(vi) LIMIT ON AMOUNT OF BENEFITS.—No

13 benefits shall be payable to an otherwise eligible em14 ployee for any day of unemployment in a registra15 tion period where the total amount of the remunera16 tion (as defined in section 1(j)) payable or accruing

17 to him for days within such registration period ex18 ceeds the amount of the base year monthly com19 pensation base. For purposes of the preceding sen20 tence, an employee’s remuneration shall be deemed

21 to include the gross amount of any remuneration

22 that would have become payable to that employee

23 but did not become payable because that employee

24 was not ready or willing to perform suitable work
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1 available to that employee on any day within such

2 registration period.’’.

3 SEC. 3. WAITING PERIOD FOR SICKNESS BENEFITS.

4 Subparagraph (B) of section 2(a)(1) of the Railroad

5 Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(a)(1)(B))

6 is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT OF SICKNESS BENEFITS.—

8 ‘‘(i) GENERALLY.—Except as otherwise pro9 vided in this subparagraph, benefits shall be payable

10 to any qualified employee for each day of sickness

11 after the 4th consecutive day of sickness in a period

12 of continuing sickness but excluding 4 days of sick13 ness in any registration period in such period of con14 tinuing sickness.

15 ‘‘(ii) WAITING PERIOD FOR FIRST REGISTRA16 TION PERIOD.—Benefits shall be payable to any

17 qualified employee for each day of sickness in excess

18 of 7 during that employee’s first registration period

19 in a period of continuing sickness if such registra20 tion period begins with 4 consecutive days of sick21 ness and includes more than 4 days of sickness, ex22 cept that the waiting period established in this

23 clause shall not apply to the first registration period

24 in any subsequent period of continuing sickness that

25 begins in the same benefit year.
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1 ‘‘(iii) DEFINITION OF PERIOD OF CONTINUING

2 SICKNESS.—For the purposes of this subparagraph,

3 a period of continuing sickness means—

4 ‘‘(I) a period of consecutive days of sick5 ness, whether from 1 or more causes; or

6 ‘‘(II) a period of successive days of sick7 ness due to a single cause without interruption

8 of more than 90 consecutive days which are not

9 days of sickness.

10 ‘‘(iv) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING END OF PE11 RIOD.—For purposes of applying clause (ii), a period

12 of continuing sickness ends when an employee ex13 hausts rights to sickness benefits under subsection

14 (c) of this section.’’.

15 SEC. 4. MAXIMUM DAILY BENEFIT RATE.

16 Paragraph (3) of section 2(a) of the Railroad Unem17 ployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(a)(3)) is amended

18 to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(3) The maximum daily benefit rate computed by

20 the Board under section 12(r)(2) shall be the product of

21 the monthly compensation base, as computed under sec22 tion 1(i)(2) for the base year immediately preceding the

23 beginning of the benefit year, multiplied by 5 percent. If

24 the maximum daily benefit rate so computed is not a mul-
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1 tiple of $1, it shall be rounded down to the nearest mul2 tiple of $1.’’.

3 SEC. 5. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DAYS FOR BENEFITS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 2 of the

5 Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. 352(c))

6 is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(c) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DAYS FOR BENEFITS.—

8 ‘‘(1) NORMAL BENEFITS.—

9 ‘‘(A) GENERALLY.—The maximum number

10 of days of unemployment within a benefit year

11 for which benefits may be paid to an employee

12 shall be 130, and the maximum number of days

13 of sickness within a benefit year for which bene14 fits may be paid to an employee shall be 130.

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The total amount of

16 benefits that may be paid to an employee for

17 days of unemployment within a benefit year

18 shall in no case exceed the employee’s com19 pensation in the base year; and the total

20 amount of benefits that may be paid to an em21 ployee for days of sickness within a benefit year

22 shall in no case exceed the employee’s com23 pensation in the base year, except that notwith24 standing section 1(i), in determining the em25 ployee’s compensation in the base year for the
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1 purpose of this sentence, any money remunera2 tion paid to the employee for services rendered

3 as an employee shall be taken into account

4 that—

5 ‘‘(i) is not in excess of $775 in any

6 month before 1989; and

7 ‘‘(ii) in any month in a base year

8 after 1988, is not in excess of an amount

9 that bears the same ratio to $775 as the

10 monthly compensation base for that year

11 as computed under section 1(i) bears to

12 $600.

13 ‘‘(2) EXTENDED BENEFITS.—

14 ‘‘(A) GENERALLY.—With respect to an

15 employee who has 10 or more years of service

16 as defined in section 1(f) of the Railroad Re17 tirement Act of 1974, who did not voluntarily

18 retire and (in a case involving exhaustion of

19 rights to normal benefits for days of unemploy20 ment) did not voluntarily leave work without

21 good cause, and who had current rights to nor22 mal benefits for days of unemployment or days

23 of sickness in a benefit year but has exhausted

24 such rights, the benefit year in which such

25 rights are exhausted shall be deemed not to be
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1 ended until the last day of the extended benefit

2 period determined under this paragraph, and

3 extended unemployment benefits or extended

4 sickness benefits (depending on the type of nor5 mal benefit rights exhausted) may be paid for

6 not more than 65 days of unemployment or 65

7 days of sickness within such extended benefit

8 period.

9 ‘‘(B) BEGINNING DATE.—An employee’s

10 extended benefit period shall begin on the em11 ployee’s first day of unemployment or first day

12 of sickness, as the case may be, following the

13 day on which the employee exhausts the em14 ployee’s then current rights to normal benefits

15 for days of unemployment or days of sickness

16 and shall continue for 7 consecutive 14-day pe17 riods, each of which shall constitute a registra18 tion period, but no such extended benefit period

19 shall extend beyond the beginning of the first

20 registration period in a benefit year in which

21 the employee is again qualified for benefits in

22 accordance with section 3 on the basis of com23 pensation earned after the first of such con24 secutive 14-day periods has begun.
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1 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION WHEN EMPLOYEE

2 REACHES AGE OF 65.—Notwithstanding any

3 other provision of this paragraph, an extended

4 benefit period for sickness benefits shall termi5 nate on the day next preceding the date on

6 which the employee attains age 65, except that

7 it may continue for the purpose of paying bene8 fits for days of unemployment.

9 ‘‘(3) ACCELERATED BENEFITS.—

10 ‘‘(A) GENERAL RULE.—With respect to an

11 employee who has 10 or more years of service

12 as defined in section 1(f) of the Railroad Re13 tirement Act of 1974, who did not voluntarily

14 retire, and (in a case involving unemployment

15 benefits) did not voluntarily leave work without

16 good cause, who has 14 or more consecutive

17 days of unemployment, or 14 or more consecu18 tive days of sickness, and who is not a qualified

19 employee with respect to the general benefit

20 year current when such unemployment or sick21 ness commences but is or becomes a qualified

22 employee for the next succeeding general bene23 fit year, such succeeding general benefit year

24 shall, in that employee’s case, begin on the first
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1 day of the month in which such unemployment

2 or sickness commences.

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In the case of a suc4 ceeding benefit year beginning in accordance

5 with subparagraph (A) by reason of sickness,

6 such sentence shall not operate to permit the

7 payment of benefits in the period provided for

8 in such sentence for any day of sickness begin9 ning with the date on which the employee at10 tains age 65, and continuing through the day

11 preceding the first day of the next succeeding

12 general benefit year.

13 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF AGE.—For the

14 purposes of this subsection, the Board may rely

15 on evidence of age available in its records and

16 files at the time determinations of age are

17 made.’’.

18 (b) REPEAL OF DEADWOOD PROVISION.—Section

19 2(h) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45

20 U.S.C. 352(h)) is repealed.

21 (c) REPEAL OF EXPIRED PROVISION.—Section 17 of

22 the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C.

23 368), relating to payment of supplemental unemployment

24 benefits, is repealed.
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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

3 on the date of the enactment of this Act.

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