II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4361 

To automatically extend and adjust enhanced unemployment assistance for 

the duration of the COVID–19 emergency and economic crisis, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2020 

Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To automatically extend and adjust enhanced unemployment 

assistance for the duration of the COVID–19 emergency 

and economic crisis, 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 ‘‘Worker Relief and Se5 curity Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TIERED EXPANSION OF PANDEMIC UNEMPLOY7 MENT ASSISTANCE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2102(c) of the CARES 

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 9021(c)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(2) DURATION OF ASSISTANCE.—The total 

4 number of weeks for which a covered individual may 

5 receive assistance under this section shall be equal 

6 to— 

7 ‘‘(A) in the case of a covered individual 

8 who first becomes eligible for assistance under 

9 an agreement with a State under this section 

10 beginning with any week ending on or before 

11 January 31, 2021, the sum of— 

12 ‘‘(i) the number of weeks sufficient to 

13 provide for the payment of pandemic un14 employment assistance to such individual 

15 for each week ending on or before such 

16 date with respect to which such agreement 

17 is in effect; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the number of weeks, beginning 

19 with the 1st week ending after such date, 

20 determined with respect to such State for 

21 such week under paragraph (4); and 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of a covered individual 

23 who first becomes eligible for assistance under 

24 an agreement with a State under this section 

25 beginning with any week after the week ending 


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1 on or before such date, the number of weeks, 

2 beginning with the 1st week for which the cov3 ered individual becomes so eligible, determined 

4 with respect to such State for such week under 

5 paragraph (4).’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) WEEKS OF ASSISTANCE AFTER JANUARY

8 2021.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The number of weeks 

10 determined with respect to a State under this 

11 paragraph with respect to the reference week of 

12 a covered individual shall be the applicable 

13 number of weeks specified with respect to such 

14 State for the covered individual in the table 

15 provided in subparagraph (B), except that— 

16 ‘‘(i) in any case in which a State is 

17 designated under section 2115(a) as a 

18 higher tier State for any 3-month period 

19 subsequent to the 3-month period in which 

20 the reference week of a covered individual 

21 ends, the applicable number of weeks spec22 ified in such table with respect to a State 

23 designated as such a higher tier State shall 

24 be substituted for the number of weeks 


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1 otherwise applicable for such covered indi2 vidual; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) if for any 3-month period de4 scribed in section 2115(a) the national un5 employment rate (as determined by the 

6 Secretary of Labor for the base period con7 sisting of the most recent 13-week period 

8 ending not less than 14 days before the be9 ginning of such quarter) is less than 5.5 

10 percent and has decreased for at least the 

11 last 2 months of such 3-month period, the 

12 applicable number of weeks with respect to 

13 a State designated under section 2115(a) 

14 as a Tier I State shall be zero in any case 

15 in which the reference week of a covered 

16 individual ends in any subsequent 3-month 

17 period. 

18 ‘‘(B) TIERED EXTENSIONS.—The table 

19 provided in this subparagraph is as follows: 

‘‘If the reference week of a covered individual 

ends in a 3-month period for which the State has 

been designated under section 2115(a) as a... 

The applicable number of 

weeks for the covered individual is... 

Tier I State or Tier II State ................................. 13 

Tier III State ......................................................... 26 

Tier IV State ......................................................... 39 

Tier V State ........................................................... 52 

Tier VI State ......................................................... 65. 


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1 ‘‘(C) REFERENCE WEEK.—For purposes of 

2 this paragraph, the term ‘reference week’ of a 

3 covered individual means the 1st week ending 

4 after January 31, 2021, for which the covered 

5 individual is eligible for assistance under an 

6 agreement with a State under this section.’’. 

7 (b) ELIGIBILITY EXPANSION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2102(a)(3) of the 

9 CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021(a)(3)) is amended to 

10 read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(3) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov12 ered individual’ means an individual who is not eligi13 ble for regular compensation under State or Federal 

14 law or pandemic emergency unemployment com15 pensation under section 2107 and who— 

16 ‘‘(A)(i) has exhausted all rights to such 

17 regular compensation and pandemic emergency 

18 unemployment compensation (within the mean19 ing of section 2107(a)(3)); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) would be eligible for regular com21 pensation but for the exhaustion of such rights; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(B)(i) provides self-certification that the 

24 individual— 


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1 ‘‘(I) is otherwise able to work and 

2 available for work within the meaning of 

3 applicable State law, except the individual 

4 is unemployed, partially unemployed, or 

5 unable or unavailable to work because— 

6 ‘‘(aa) the individual has been di7 agnosed with COVID–19 or is experi8 encing symptoms of COVID–19 and 

9 seeking a medical diagnosis; 

10 ‘‘(bb) a member of the individ11 ual’s household has been diagnosed 

12 with COVID–19; 

13 ‘‘(cc) the individual is providing 

14 care for a family member or a mem15 ber of the individual’s household who 

16 has been diagnosed with COVID–19; 

17 ‘‘(dd) a child or other person in 

18 the household for which the individual 

19 has primary caregiving responsibility 

20 is unable to attend school, a childcare 

21 facility, a long-term care facility, or 

22 related facility, or is unable to access 

23 in-home care, as a result of the 

24 COVID–19 national emergency, and 


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1 such school, facility, or in-home care 

2 is required for the individual to work; 

3 ‘‘(ee) the individual is unable to 

4 reach the place of employment be5 cause of a quarantine imposed as a 

6 result of the COVID–19 national 

7 emergency; 

8 ‘‘(ff) the individual is unable to 

9 reach the place of employment be10 cause the individual has been advised 

11 by a health care provider to self-quar12 antine due to concerns related to the 

13 COVID–19 national emergency, in14 cluding because the individual resides 

15 with an individual at higher risk of se16 vere illness; 

17 ‘‘(gg) the individual was sched18 uled to commence employment and 

19 does not have a job or is unable to 

20 reach the job as a result of the 

21 COVID–19 national emergency; 

22 ‘‘(hh) the individual has become 

23 the breadwinner or major support for 

24 a household because the head of the 


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1 household has died as a result of the 

2 COVID–19 national emergency; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the individual has to quit 

4 his or her job as a result of the 

5 COVID–19 national emergency; 

6 ‘‘(jj) the individual’s place of em7 ployment is closed as a result of the 

8 COVID–19 national emergency; 

9 ‘‘(kk) the individual is otherwise 

10 unable to obtain employment as a re11 sult of the COVID–19 national emer12 gency; or 

13 ‘‘(ll) the individual meets any ad14 ditional criteria established by the 

15 Secretary for unemployment assist16 ance under this section; or 

17 ‘‘(II) is self-employed, is seeking part18 time employment, does not have sufficient 

19 work history, or otherwise would not qual20 ify for regular unemployment or extended 

21 benefits under State or Federal law or 

22 pandemic emergency unemployment com23 pensation under section 2107 and meets 

24 the requirements of subclause (I). 


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1 Such term does not include an individual 

2 who has the ability to telework with pay or 

3 who is receiving paid sick leave or other 

4 paid leave benefits, regardless of whether 

5 such individual otherwise meets the re6 quirements of subparagraph (B)(i)(I).’’. 

7 (2) EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY RELATED TO

8 ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF COVID–19.—Section 

9 2102(a)(2) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 9021(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(2) COVID–19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The 

12 term ‘COVID–19 national emergency’ means the 

13 public health emergency declared by the Secretary of 

14 Health and Human Services on January 27, 2020, 

15 with respect to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, and its 

16 macroeconomic consequences.’’. 

17 (3) EXTENSION OF ELIGIBILITY TO INDIVID18 UALS WITHOUT A RECENT ATTACHMENT TO THE

19 LABOR FORCE.—Section 2102(b) of the CARES Act 

20 (15 U.S.C. 9021(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT AS A RE22 SULT OF COVID–19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—Subject to 

23 subsection (c), the Secretary shall provide pandemic un24 employment assistance— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to any covered individual while such indi2 vidual is unemployed, partially unemployed, or un3 able to work for the weeks of such unemployment 

4 with respect to which the individual is not entitled 

5 to any other unemployment compensation (as that 

6 term is defined in section 85(b) of title 26, United 

7 States Code) or waiting period credit; and 

8 ‘‘(2) to any other individual for weeks with re9 spect to which the individual would be a covered in10 dividual but for the individual’s lack of a recent at11 tachment to the labor force.’’. 

12 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2102 

13 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021) is amended— 

14 (A) in subsection (c)(1), by striking 

15 ‘‘COVID–19’’ and inserting ‘‘the COVID–19 

16 national emergency’’ each place it appears; and 

17 (B) in subsection (h)(1), by striking 

18 ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ and in19 serting ‘‘COVID–19 national emergency’’. 

20 (c) COORDINATION WITH EXTENDED COMPENSA21 TION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2102(f) of such Act 

23 (15 U.S.C. 9021(f)) is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION WITH EXTENDED COM2 PENSATION.—An agreement under this section shall 

3 apply with respect to a State only upon a determina4 tion by the Secretary that, under the State law or 

5 other applicable rules of such State, the payment of 

6 extended compensation for which an individual is 

7 otherwise eligible must be deferred until after the 

8 payment of any pandemic unemployment assistance 

9 under subsection (b) for which the individual is con10 currently eligible.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

12 2102(a)(3)(A)(i) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 9021(a)(3)(A)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘or ex14 tended benefits’’ each place it appears. 

15 (d) APPLICABILITY.—Section 2102(c)(1) of such Act 

16 (15 U.S.C. 9021(c)(1)) is amended— 

17 (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) for weeks of unemployment, partial 

20 unemployment, or inability to work caused by 

21 COVID–19 beginning on or after January 27, 

22 2020; and’’; and 

23 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘subject to 

24 subparagraph (A)(ii),’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. TIERED EXTENSION OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEM2 PLOYMENT COMPENSATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2104(b) of the CARES 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 9023(b)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(B) an addi6 tional amount’’ and all that follows through the end 

7 and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(B) an additional amount (in this section 

9 referred to as ‘Federal Pandemic Unemploy10 ment Compensation’) of— 

11 ‘‘(i) for weeks with respect to which 

12 such agreement is in effect ending on or 

13 before the date that is 30 days after the 

14 date on which any national emergency de15 clared by the President under the National 

16 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

17 relating to COVID–19 (or any extension 

18 thereof) terminates, including the national 

19 emergency declared on March 13, 2020, 

20 and any subsequent national emergency, 

21 $600; 

22 ‘‘(ii) for the subsequent 13 weeks with 

23 respect to which such agreement is in ef24 fect ending after such date, $450; and 

25 ‘‘(iii) for any week with respect to 

26 which such agreement is in effect following 


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1 the weeks described in clause (ii), the ap2 plicable dollar amount specified with re3 spect to such State for such week in the 

4 table provided in paragraph (2), except 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(I) if the first such week ends in 

7 the last month of a 3-month period 

8 for which a State has received a des9 ignation under section 2115(a), the 

10 applicable dollar amount for the first 

11 such week and for any subsequent 

12 weeks ending during such 3-month pe13 riod shall be $450; and 

14 ‘‘(II) if for any 3-month period 

15 described in section 2115(a) the na16 tional unemployment rate (as deter17 mined by the Secretary of Labor for 

18 the base period consisting of the most 

19 recent 13-week period ending not less 

20 than 14 days before the beginning of 

21 such quarter) is less than 5.5 percent 

22 and has decreased for at least the last 

23 2 months of such 3-month period, the 

24 applicable dollar amount with respect 

25 to a State designated under section 


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1 2115(a) as a Tier I State, Tier II 

2 State, or Tier III State shall be $0 for 

3 any week ending in any subsequent 3- 

4 month period. 

5 Notwithstanding clause (i), in any case in which a 

6 subsequent national emergency is declared by the 

7 President under the National Emergencies Act (50 

8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) relating to COVID–19 during 

9 the last 2 months of a 3-month period for which a 

10 State has received a designation under section 

11 2115(a), the applicable dollar amount for the first 

12 week ending on or before the date that is 30 days 

13 after the date of such declaration, and for any sub14 sequent weeks during such 3-month period shall be 

15 the amount determined under clause (iii).’’; 

16 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para17 graph (3); and 

18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(2) TIERED COMPENSATION AMOUNTS.—The 

21 table provided in this paragraph is as follows: 

‘‘If a week ends in a 3-month period for which a 

State has been designated under section 2115(a) 

as a... 

The applicable dollar 

amount for such week shall 

be equal to... 

Tier I State, Tier II State, or Tier III State ........ $200 

Tier IV State, Tier V State, or Tier VI State ...... $300.’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Section 2104(e) of such Act 

2 (15 U.S.C. 9023(e)) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY.—An agreement entered into 

4 under this section shall apply to weeks of unemployment 

5 beginning after the date on which such agreement is en6 tered into.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF PANDEMIC EMERGENCY UNEMPLOY8 MENT COMPENSATION THROUGH CALENDAR 

9 YEAR 2020. 

10 Section 2107 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9025) 

11 is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘13 times’’ 

13 and all that follows through the end and inserting 

14 ‘‘the product of— 

15 ‘‘(A) the individual’s average weekly ben16 efit amount, which includes the amount of Fed17 eral Pandemic Unemployment Compensation 

18 under section 2104, for the benefit year; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the number of weeks sufficient to 

20 provide for the payment of pandemic emergency 

21 unemployment compensation to the individual 

22 for each week with respect to which the agree23 ment entered into under this section is in ef24 fect.’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (g)(2), by striking ‘‘December 

2 31, 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘January 31, 2021’’. 

3 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF STATE UNEMPLOYMENT TIERS. 

4 Subtitle A of title II of division B of the CARES Act 

5 (15 U.S.C. 9021 et seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating sections 2115 and 2116 as 

7 sections 2116 and 2117, respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 2114 the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 2115. STATE UNEMPLOYMENT TIERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the 3-month period begin12 ning with February 2021, and for each subsequent 3- 

13 month period, the Secretary of Labor shall designate each 

14 State according to the following table: 

‘‘If the quarterly unemployment rate in a State 

with respect to a 3-month period is... 

The State shall be designated for such 3-month 

period as a... 

less than 5.5 percent .............................................. Tier I State 

equal to or greater than 5.5 percent but less than 

6.5 percent.

Tier II State 

equal to or greater than 6.5 percent but less than 

7.5 percent.

Tier III State 

equal to or greater than 7.5 percent but less than 

8.5 percent.

Tier IV State 

equal to or greater than 8.5 percent but less than 

9.5 percent.

Tier V State 

equal to or greater than 9.5 percent ..................... Tier VI State. 

15 ‘‘(b) QUARTERLY UNEMPLOYMENT RATE.—For pur16 poses of this section, the term ‘quarterly unemployment 

17 rate’ means, with respect to a State for a 3-month period 

18 described in subsection (a), the average rate of total unemVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:55 Aug 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4361.IS S4361

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1 ployment in such State (seasonally adjusted), to be deter2 mined by the Secretary of Labor, for the period consisting 

3 of the most recent 13-week period ending not less than 

4 14 days before the beginning of such 3-month period. 

5 ‘‘(c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 

6 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common7 wealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Amer8 ican Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

9 Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic 

10 of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY TRANSFERS FOR UNEM12 PLOYMENT COMPENSATION ADMINISTRA13 TION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 903 of the Social Security 

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 1103) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(j) ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY TRANSFERS IN FIS18 CAL YEAR 2020 FOR ADMINISTRATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1)(A) In addition to any other amounts (including 

20 amounts provided under subsection (h)), the Secretary of 

21 Labor shall provide for the making of emergency adminis22 tration grants in fiscal year 2020 to the accounts of the 

23 States in the Unemployment Trust Fund, in accordance 

24 with succeeding provisions of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The amount of an emergency administration 

2 grant with respect to a State shall, as determined by the 

3 Secretary of Labor, be equal to the amount obtained by 

4 multiplying $5,000,000,000 by the same ratio as would 

5 apply under subsection (a)(2)(B) for purposes of deter6 mining such State’s share of any excess amount (as de7 scribed in subsection (a)(1)) that would have been subject 

8 to transfer to State accounts, as of October 1, 2019, under 

9 the provisions of subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(2) Any amount transferred to the account of a 

11 State under this subsection may be used by such State 

12 only for the administration of its unemployment com13 pensation law. 

14 ‘‘(3)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

15 the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from the gen16 eral fund of the Treasury (from funds not otherwise ap17 propriated) to the employment security administration ac18 count (as established by section 901 of the Social Security 

19 Act) such sums as the Secretary of Labor estimates to 

20 be necessary for purposes of making the transfers de21 scribed in paragraph (1)(C). 

22 ‘‘(B) There are appropriated from the general fund 

23 of the Treasury, without fiscal year limitation, the sums 

24 referred to in the preceding sentence and such sums shall 

25 not be required to be repaid.’’. 


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1 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor may 

2 prescribe any regulations, operating instructions, or other 

3 guidance necessary to carry out the amendment made by 

4 subsection (a). 

Æ 


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