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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5548 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5548

 To amend title III of the Social Security Act to improve the accuracy 
    of payment of unemployment compensation benefits, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            December 17 (legislative day, December 16), 2024

Mr. Lankford (for himself and Mrs. Blackburn) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend title III of the Social Security Act to improve the accuracy 
    of payment of unemployment compensation benefits, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Eliminate Fraudulent Unemployment 
Insurance Benefits Act''.

SEC. 2. TIMING OF PAYMENTS TO CERTAIN CONTINUED CLAIMANTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 303 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
503) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``Such methods of 
        administration'' and inserting ``Subject to subsection (n), 
        such methods of administration''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(n) Timing of Payments to Certain Continued Claimants.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of determining when 
        unemployment compensation is due under subsection (a)(1), in 
        the case of a continued claimant who has been determined 
        ineligible by the State agency and such determination is in the 
        appeal process, the State agency shall withhold unemployment 
        compensation benefits otherwise payable to such individual 
        until the date on which--
                    ``(A) the individual's appeal is no longer pending 
                before the State; and
                    ``(B) the State agency determines that such 
                individual is eligible for such payment.
            ``(2) Payment upon determination.--For purposes of 
        paragraph (1)(B), if a State agency determines that a claimant 
        is eligible for unemployment compensation benefits, the State 
        agency shall pay to the claimant within 5 business days the 
        benefits withheld from the claimant in accordance with 
        paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The requirements of subsection (a) shall apply 
to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after the earlier of--
            (1) the date the State changes its statutes, regulations, 
        or policies in order to comply with such requirements; or
            (2) the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of 
        this Act.

SEC. 3. GUIDANCE ON DENYING OR REVOKING ELIGIBILITY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT 
              COMPENSATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor (in this section referred 
to as the ``Secretary''), in coordination with the Inspector General of 
the Department of Labor (in this section referred to as the ``Inspector 
General''), shall issue guidance for States regarding best practices 
for denying eligibility for unemployment compensation for initial 
claimants and declaring continued claimants ineligible.
    (b) Considerations.--In issuing the guidance under subsection (a), 
the Secretary and the Inspector General shall consider the following:
            (1) Accepted rationales for ineligibility determinations, 
        including--
                    (A) fraudulent activity, such as any dishonest 
                response, use of a synthetic identity, or certification 
                of inaccurate or deceptive personally-identifiable 
                information;
                    (B) nonresponse; or
                    (C) any other rationale determined appropriate by 
                the Secretary and the Inspector General.
            (2) Specific examples of each accepted rationale identified 
        under paragraph (1).
            (3) The level of risk associated with each accepted 
        rationale identified under paragraph (1).
            (4) Any other considerations determined appropriate by the 
        Secretary and the Inspector General.
    (c) Updates.--The Secretary, in coordination with the Inspector 
General, shall update the guidance issued under subsection (a) not less 
than once every 3 years.
    (d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) Dishonest response.--The term ``dishonest response'' 
        means, with respect to a response from a claimant to file an 
        initial claim or a claim for continued eligibility for 
        unemployment compensation, a response that--
                    (A) is untrue; and
                    (B) may include false personally-identifiable 
                information, reporting of earnings, or employment 
                history.
            (2) Personally-identifiable information.--The term 
        ``personally-identifiable information'' means information that 
        is linked or reasonably linkable to an individual, such as a 
        physical address, place of residency, phone number, driver's 
        license number, social security number, employee identification 
        number, identification number provided by the State, or any 
        other information determined appropriate by the Secretary of 
        Labor.
            (3) Synthetic identity.--The term ``synthetic identity'' 
        means, with respect to a claim for unemployment compensation, 
        an identity that is used by a claimant to fraudulently apply 
        for such compensation that--
                    (A) does not reflect a real individual; and
                    (B) may use real or seemingly real personally-
                identifiable information.
                                 <all>
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