I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3499

To provide extended unemployment benefits to displaced workers, and to 

make other improvements in the unemployment insurance system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2003

Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To provide extended unemployment benefits to displaced 

workers, and to make other improvements in the unemployment insurance system.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension 

6 Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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TITLE I—TEMPORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT 

COMPENSATION 

Sec. 101. References. 

Sec. 102. Extension of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation 

Act of 2002. 

Sec. 103. Entitlement to additional weeks of temporary extended unemployment 

compensation. 

Sec. 104. Extended benefit periods. 

TITLE II—UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR INDIVIDUALS QUALIFYING BASED ON PART-TIME WORK OR AN ALTERNATIVE 

BASE PERIOD 

Sec. 201. Federal-State agreements. 

Sec. 202. Payments to States having agreements under this title. 

Sec. 203. Financing provisions. 

Sec. 204. Definitions. 

Sec. 205. Applicability.

1 TITLE I—TEMPORARY EX2 TENDED UNEMPLOYMENT 

3 COMPENSATION 

4 SEC. 101. REFERENCES. 

5 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

6 this title an amendment is expressed in terms of an 

7 amendment to a section or other provision, the reference 

8 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi9 sion of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Com10 pensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–147; 26 U.S.C. 

11 3304 note). 

12 SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF THE TEMPORARY EXTENDED UN13 EMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACT OF 2002. 

14 (a) SIX-MONTH EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.—Section 

15 208 is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 208. APPLICABILITY. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), an 

3 agreement entered into under this title shall apply to 

4 weeks of unemployment—

5 ‘‘(1) beginning after the date on which such 

6 agreement is entered into; and 

7 ‘‘(2) ending before July 1, 2004. 

8 ‘‘(b) TRANSITION.—In the case of an individual who 

9 is receiving temporary extended unemployment compensa10 tion for the week which immediately precedes the first day 

11 of the week that includes July 1, 2004, temporary ex12 tended unemployment compensation shall continue to be 

13 payable to such individual for any week thereafter from 

14 the account from which such individual received com15 pensation for the week immediately preceding that termi16 nation date. No compensation shall be payable by reason 

17 of the preceding sentence for any week beginning after De18 cember 31, 2004.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 this section shall take effect as if included in the enact21 ment of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Com22 pensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–147; 26 U.S.C. 

23 3304 note). 
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1 SEC. 103. ENTITLEMENT TO ADDITIONAL WEEKS OF TEM2 PORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT COM3 PENSATION. 

4 (a) WEEKS OF TEUC AMOUNTS.—Paragraph (1) of 

5 section 203(b) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount established in 

7 an account under subsection (a) shall be equal to 26 

8 times the individual’s weekly benefit amount for the 

9 benefit year.’’. 

10 (b) WEEKS OF TEUC–X AMOUNTS.—Section 

11 203(c)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘an amount equal to the 

12 amount originally established in such account (as deter13 mined under subsection (b)(1))’’ and inserting ‘‘13 times 

14 the individual’s weekly benefit amount for the benefit 

15 year’’. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

18 this section—

19 (A) shall take effect as if included in the 

20 enactment of the Temporary Extended Unem21 ployment Compensation Act of 2002 (Public 

22 Law 107–147; 26 U.S.C. 3304 note); but 

23 (B) shall apply only with respect to weeks 

24 of unemployment beginning on or after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, subject to paragraph 

26 (2). 
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1 (2) SPECIAL RULES.—In the case of an indi2 vidual for whom a temporary extended unemploy3 ment compensation account was established before 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Temporary 

5 Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 

6 (as amended by this title) shall be applied subject to 

7 the following: 

8 (A) Any amounts deposited in the individ9 ual’s temporary extended unemployment com10 pensation account by reason of section 203(c) 

11 of such Act (commonly known as ‘‘TEUC–X 

12 amounts’’) before the date of enactment of this 

13 Act shall be treated as amounts deposited by 

14 reason of section 203(b) of such Act (commonly 

15 known as ‘‘TEUC amounts’’), as amended by 

16 subsection (a). 

17 (B) For purposes of determining whether 

18 the individual is eligible for any TEUC–X 

19 amounts under such Act, as amended by this 

20 title—

21 (i) any determination made under sec22 tion 203(c) of such Act before the applica23 tion of the amendments made by this title 

24 shall be disregarded; and 
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1 (ii) any such determination shall in2 stead be made by applying section 203(c) 

3 of such Act, as amended by this title—

4 (I) as of the time that all 

5 amounts established in such account 

6 in accordance with section 203(b) of 

7 such Act (as amended by this title, 

8 and including any amounts described 

9 in subparagraph (A)) are in fact ex10 hausted, except that 

11 (II) if such individual’s account 

12 was both augmented by and exhausted 

13 of all TEUC–X amounts before the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, such 

15 determination shall be made as if ex16 haustion (as described in section 

17 203(c)(1) of such Act) had not oc18 curred until such date of enactment. 

19 SEC. 104. EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIODS. 

20 (a) APPLICATION OF REVISED RATE OF INSURED

21 UNEMPLOYMENT.—Section 207 is amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘In’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN GEN23 ERAL.—In’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(b) INSURED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE.—For pur2 poses of carrying out section 203(c) with respect to weeks 

3 of unemployment beginning on or after the date of enact4 ment of this subsection, the term ‘rate of insured unem5 ployment’, as used in section 203(d) of the Federal-State 

6 Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 

7 U.S.C. 3304 note), has the meaning given such term 

8 under section 203(e)(1) of such Act, except that individ9 uals exhausting their right to regular compensation during 

10 the most recent 3 calendar months for which data are 

11 available before the close of the period for which such rate 

12 is being determined shall be taken into account as if they 

13 were individuals filing claims for regular compensation for 

14 each week during the period for which such rate is being 

15 determined, and section 203(d)(1)(A) of such Act shall be 

16 applied by substituting ‘either (or both)’ for ‘each’.’’. 

17 (b) ADDITIONAL EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD TRIG18 GER.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(c) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD

22 TRIGGER.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Effective with respect 

24 to compensation for weeks of unemployment be25 ginning on or after the date of enactment of 
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1 this paragraph, an agreement under this title 

2 shall provide that, in addition to any other ex3 tended benefit period trigger, for purposes of 

4 beginning or ending any extended benefit period 

5 under this section—

6 ‘‘(i) there is a State ‘on’ indicator for 

7 a week if the average rate of total unem8 ployment in such State (seasonally ad9 justed) for the period consisting of the 

10 most recent 3 months for which data for 

11 all States are published before the close of 

12 such week equals or exceeds 6 percent; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) there is a State ‘off’ indicator for 

14 a week if the requirement under clause (i) 

15 is not satisfied. 

16 ‘‘(B) NO EFFECT ON OTHER DETERMINA17 TIONS.—Notwithstanding the provisions of any 

18 agreement described in subparagraph (A), any 

19 week for which there would otherwise be a 

20 State ‘on’ indicator shall continue to be such a 

21 week and shall not be determined to be a week 

22 for which there is a State ‘off’ indicator. 

23 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATIONS MADE BY THE

24 SECRETARY.—For purposes of this subsection, 

25 determinations of the rate of total unemploy-
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1 ment in any State for any period (and of any 

2 seasonal adjustment) shall be made by the Sec3 retary.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

5 203(c)(1) is amended by inserting ‘‘or (3)’’ after 

6 ‘‘paragraph (2)’’. 

7 TITLE II—UNEMPLOYMENT BEN8 EFITS FOR INDIVIDUALS 

9 QUALIFYING BASED ON PART10 TIME WORK OR AN ALTER11 NATIVE BASE PERIOD 

12 SEC. 201. FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any State which desires to do so 

14 may enter into and participate in an agreement under this 

15 title with the Secretary of Labor (hereinafter in this title 

16 referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’). Any State which is a party 

17 to an agreement under this title may, upon providing 30 

18 days’ written notice to the Secretary, terminate such 

19 agreement. 

20 (b) PROVISIONS OF AGREEMENT.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any agreement under sub22 section (a) shall provide that the State agency of the 

23 State will make payments of regular compensation 

24 to individuals in amounts and to the extent that they 
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1 would be determined if the State law were applied 

2 with the modifications described in paragraph (2). 

3 (2) MODIFICATIONS DESCRIBED.—The modi4 fications described in this paragraph are as follows: 

5 (A) In the case of an individual who is not 

6 eligible for regular compensation under the 

7 State law because of the use of a definition of 

8 base period that does not count wages earned 

9 in the most recently completed calendar quar10 ter, eligibility for compensation under this title 

11 shall be determined by applying a base period 

12 ending at the close of the most recently com13 pleted calendar quarter. 

14 (B) In the case of an individual who is not 

15 eligible for regular compensation under the 

16 State law because such individual does not meet 

17 requirements relating to availability for work, 

18 active search for work, or refusal to accept 

19 work, because such individual is seeking, or is 

20 available for, less than full-time work, com21 pensation under this title shall not be denied by 

22 such State to an otherwise eligible individual

23 who seeks less than full-time work or fails to 

24 accept full-time work. 
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1 (c) COORDINATION RULE.—The modifications de2 scribed in subsection (b)(2) shall also apply in determining 

3 the amount of benefits payable under any Federal law to 

4 the extent that those benefits are determined by reference 

5 to regular compensation payable under the State law of 

6 the State involved. 

7 SEC. 202. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS 

8 UNDER THIS TITLE. 

9 (a) GENERAL RULE.—There shall be paid to each 

10 State which has entered into an agreement under this title 

11 an amount equal to—

12 (1) 100 percent of any regular compensation 

13 made payable to individuals by such State by virtue 

14 of the modifications which are described in section 

15 201(b)(2) and deemed to be in effect with respect to 

16 such State pursuant to section 201(b)(1), and 

17 (2) 100 percent of any regular compensation—

18 (A) which is paid to individuals by such 

19 State by reason of the fact that its State law 

20 contains provisions comparable to the modifica21 tions described in section 201(b)(2), but only 

22 (B) to the extent that those amounts 

23 would, if such amounts were instead payable by 

24 virtue of the State law’s being deemed to be so 
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1 modified pursuant to section 201(b)(1), have 

2 been reimbursable under paragraph (1). 

3 (b) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Sums under sub4 section (a) payable to any State by reason of such State 

5 having an agreement under this title shall be payable, ei6 ther in advance or by way of reimbursement (as may be 

7 determined by the Secretary), in such amounts as the Sec8 retary estimates the State will be entitled to receive under 

9 this title for each calendar month, reduced or increased, 

10 as the case may be, by any amount by which the Secretary 

11 finds that the Secretary’s estimates for any prior calendar 

12 month were greater or less than the amounts which should 

13 have been paid to the State. Such estimates may be made 

14 on the basis of such statistical, sampling, or other method 

15 as may be agreed upon by the Secretary and the State 

16 agency of the State involved. 

17 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER EXPENSES.—

18 There is hereby appropriated out of the employment secu19 rity administration account of the Unemployment Trust 

20 Fund (as established by section 901(a) of the Social Secu21 rity Act) $500,000,000 to reimburse States for the costs 

22 of the administration of agreements under this title (in23 cluding any improvements in technology in connection 

24 therewith) and to provide reemployment services to unem25 ployment compensation claimants in States having agree-
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1 ments under this title. Each State’s share of the amount 

2 appropriated by the preceding sentence shall be deter3 mined by the Secretary according to the factors described 

4 in section 302(a) of the Social Security Act and certified 

5 by the Secretary to the Secretary of the Treasury. 

6 SEC. 203. FINANCING PROVISIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Funds in the extended unemploy8 ment compensation account (as established by section 

9 905(a) of the Social Security Act), and the Federal unem10 ployment account (as established by section 904(g) of the 

11 Social Security Act), of the Unemployment Trust Fund 

12 shall be used, in accordance with subsection (b), for the 

13 making of payments (described in section 202(a)) to 

14 States having agreements entered into under this title. 

15 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall from time 

16 to time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for pay17 ment to each State the sums described in section 202(a) 

18 which are payable to such State under this title. The Sec19 retary of the Treasury, prior to audit or settlement by the 

20 General Accounting Office, shall make payments to the 

21 State in accordance with such certification by transfers 

22 from the extended unemployment compensation account 

23 (or, to the extent that there are insufficient funds in that 

24 account, from the Federal unemployment account) to the 

25 account of such State in the Unemployment Trust Fund. 
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1 SEC. 204. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For purposes of this title: 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘compensation’’, 

4 ‘‘regular compensation’’, ‘‘base period’’, ‘‘State’’, 

5 ‘‘State agency’’, ‘‘State law’’, and ‘‘week’’ have the 

6 respective meanings given such terms under section 

7 205 of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment 

8 Compensation Act of 1970, subject to paragraph 

9 (2). 

10 (2) STATE LAW AND REGULAR COMPENSA11 TION.—In the case of a State entering into an 

12 agreement under this title—

13 (A) ‘‘State law’’ shall be considered to 

14 refer to the State law of such State, applied in 

15 conformance with the modifications described in 

16 section 201(b)(2), and 

17 (B) ‘‘regular compensation’’ shall be con18 sidered to refer to such compensation, deter19 mined under its State law (applied in the man20 ner described in subparagraph (A)), 

21 except as otherwise provided or where the context 

22 clearly indicates otherwise. 

23 SEC. 205. APPLICABILITY. 

24 An agreement entered into under this title shall apply 

25 to weeks of unemployment—
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1 (1) beginning after the date on which such 

2 agreement is entered into, and 

3 (2) ending before January 1, 2005.

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