II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Eliminate Fraudulent 

5 Unemployment Insurance Benefits Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TIMING OF PAYMENTS TO CERTAIN CONTINUED 

7 CLAIMANTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Social Security 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 503) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘Such 

2 methods of administration’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject 

3 to subsection (n), such methods of administration’’; 

4 and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub6 section: 

7 ‘‘(n) TIMING OF PAYMENTS TO CERTAIN CONTINUED

8 CLAIMANTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of deter10 mining when unemployment compensation is due 

11 under subsection (a)(1), in the case of a continued 

12 claimant who has been determined ineligible by the 

13 State agency and such determination is in the ap14 peal process, the State agency shall withhold unem15 ployment compensation benefits otherwise payable to 

16 such individual until the date on which— 

17 ‘‘(A) the individual’s appeal is no longer 

18 pending before the State; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the State agency determines that 

20 such individual is eligible for such payment. 

21 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT UPON DETERMINATION.—For 

22 purposes of paragraph (1)(B), if a State agency de23 termines that a claimant is eligible for unemploy24 ment compensation benefits, the State agency shall 

25 pay to the claimant within 5 business days the beneVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jan 21, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5548.IS S5548

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1 fits withheld from the claimant in accordance with 

2 paragraph (1).’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of sub4 section (a) shall apply to weeks of unemployment begin5 ning on or after the earlier of— 

6 (1) the date the State changes its statutes, reg7 ulations, or policies in order to comply with such re8 quirements; or 

9 (2) the date that is 2 years after the date of en10 actment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 3. GUIDANCE ON DENYING OR REVOKING ELIGIBILITY 

12 FOR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor (in 

15 this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in coordina16 tion with the Inspector General of the Department of 

17 Labor (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Inspector Gen18 eral’’), shall issue guidance for States regarding best prac19 tices for denying eligibility for unemployment compensa20 tion for initial claimants and declaring continued claim21 ants ineligible. 

22 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In issuing the guidance 

23 under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Inspector 

24 General shall consider the following: 


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1 (1) Accepted rationales for ineligibility deter2 minations, including— 

3 (A) fraudulent activity, such as any dis4 honest response, use of a synthetic identity, or 

5 certification of inaccurate or deceptive person6 ally-identifiable information; 

7 (B) nonresponse; or 

8 (C) any other rationale determined appro9 priate by the Secretary and the Inspector Gen10 eral. 

11 (2) Specific examples of each accepted rationale 

12 identified under paragraph (1). 

13 (3) The level of risk associated with each ac14 cepted rationale identified under paragraph (1). 

15 (4) Any other considerations determined appro16 priate by the Secretary and the Inspector General. 

17 (c) UPDATES.—The Secretary, in coordination with 

18 the Inspector General, shall update the guidance issued 

19 under subsection (a) not less than once every 3 years. 

20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

21 (1) DISHONEST RESPONSE.—The term ‘‘dis22 honest response’’ means, with respect to a response 

23 from a claimant to file an initial claim or a claim 

24 for continued eligibility for unemployment compensa25 tion, a response that— 


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1 (A) is untrue; and 

2 (B) may include false personally-identifi3 able information, reporting of earnings, or em4 ployment history. 

5 (2) PERSONALLY-IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA6 TION.—The term ‘‘personally-identifiable informa7 tion’’ means information that is linked or reasonably 

8 linkable to an individual, such as a physical address, 

9 place of residency, phone number, driver’s license 

10 number, social security number, employee identifica11 tion number, identification number provided by the 

12 State, or any other information determined appro13 priate by the Secretary of Labor. 

14 (3) SYNTHETIC IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘syn15 thetic identity’’ means, with respect to a claim for 

16 unemployment compensation, an identity that is 

17 used by a claimant to fraudulently apply for such 

18 compensation that— 

19 (A) does not reflect a real individual; and 

20 (B) may use real or seemingly real person21 ally-identifiable information. 

Æ 


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