II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1826 

To provide for the availability of self-employment assistance to individuals 

receiving extended compensation or emergency unemployment compensation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2011 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. CARPER, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for the availability of self-employment assistance 

to individuals receiving extended compensation or emergency unemployment compensation. 

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 ‘‘Startup Technical As5 sistance for Reemployment Training and Unemployment 

6 Prevention Act’’ or the ‘‘STARTUP Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. STATE ADMINISTRATION OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT 

8 ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

9 (a) AVAILABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING EX10 TENDED COMPENSATION.—Title II of the Federal-State 


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1 Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 

2 U.S.C. 3304 note) is amended by inserting at the end the 

3 following new section: 

4 ‘‘AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT SELF-EMPLOYMENT

5 ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

6 ‘‘SEC. 208. (a)(1) At the option of a State, for any 

7 weeks of unemployment beginning after the date of enact8 ment of this section, the State agency of the State may 

9 establish a self-employment assistance program, as de10 scribed in subsection (b), to provide for the payment of 

11 extended compensation as self-employment assistance al12 lowances to individuals who would otherwise satisfy the 

13 eligibility criteria under this title. 

14 ‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the self-employment 

15 assistance allowance described in paragraph (1) shall be 

16 paid to an eligible individual from such individual’s ex17 tended compensation account, as described in section 

18 202(b), and the amount in such account shall be reduced 

19 accordingly. 

20 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), for purposes 

21 of self-employment assistance programs established under 

22 this section and section 4001(h) of the Supplemental Ap23 propriations Act, 2008, an individual shall be provided 

24 with self-employment assistance allowances under such 

25 programs for a total of not greater than 26 weeks (re26 ferred to in this section as the ‘combined eligibility limit’). 


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1 ‘‘(B) For purposes of an individual who is partici2 pating in a self-employment assistance program estab3 lished under this section and has not reached the com4 bined eligibility limit as of the date on which such indi5 vidual exhausts all rights to extended compensation under 

6 this title, the individual shall be eligible to receive self7 employment assistance allowances under a self-employ8 ment assistance program established under section 

9 4001(h) of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008, 

10 until such individual has reached the combined eligibility 

11 limit, provided that the individual otherwise satisfies the 

12 eligibility criteria described under title IV of such Act. 

13 ‘‘(b) For the purposes of this section, the term ‘self14 employment assistance program’ means a program as de15 fined under section 3306(t) of the Internal Revenue Code 

16 of 1986, except as follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) all references to ‘regular unemployment 

18 compensation under the State law’ shall be deemed 

19 to refer instead to ‘extended compensation under 

20 title II of the Federal-State Extended Unemploy21 ment Compensation Act of 1970’; 

22 ‘‘(2) paragraph (3)(B) shall not apply; 

23 ‘‘(3) clause (i) of paragraph (3)(C) shall be 

24 deemed to state as follows: 


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1 ‘‘ ‘(i) include any entrepreneurial 

2 training that the State or non-profit orga3 nizations may provide in coordination with 

4 programs of training offered by the Small 

5 Business Administration, which may in6 clude business counseling, mentorship for 

7 participants, access to small business de8 velopment resources, and technical assist9 ance; and’; 

10 ‘‘(4) the reference to ‘5 percent’ in paragraph 

11 (4) shall be deemed to refer instead to ‘1 percent’; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(5) paragraph (5) shall not apply. 

14 ‘‘(c) In the case of an individual who is eligible to 

15 receive extended compensation under this title, such indi16 vidual shall not receive self-employment assistance allow17 ances under this section unless the State agency has a 

18 reasonable expectation that such individual will be entitled 

19 to at least 13 times the individual’s average weekly benefit 

20 amount of extended compensation and emergency unem21 ployment compensation. 

22 ‘‘(d)(1) An individual who is participating in a self23 employment assistance program established under this 

24 section may elect to discontinue participation in such pro25 gram at any time. 


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1 ‘‘(2) For purposes of an individual whose participa2 tion in a self-employment assistance program established 

3 under this section is terminated pursuant to subsection 

4 (a)(3) or who has discontinued participation in such pro5 gram, if the individual continues to satisfy the eligibility 

6 requirements for extended compensation under this title, 

7 the individual shall receive extended compensation pay8 ments with respect to subsequent weeks of unemployment, 

9 to the extent that amounts remain in the account estab10 lished for such individual under section 202(b).’’. 

11 (b) AVAILABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING

12 EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.—Section 

13 4001 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub14 lic Law 110–252; 26 U.S.C. 3304 note) is amended by 

15 inserting at the end the following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(h) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT SELF-EMPLOYMENT

17 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Any agreement 

20 under subsection (a) may provide that the State 

21 agency of the State shall establish a self-em22 ployment assistance program, as described in 

23 paragraph (2), to provide for the payment of 

24 emergency unemployment compensation as self25 employment assistance allowances to individuals 


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1 who would otherwise satisfy the eligibility cri2 teria specified in subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT OF ALLOWANCES.—Subject 

4 to subparagraph (C), the self-employment as5 sistance allowance described in subparagraph 

6 (A) shall be paid to an eligible individual from 

7 such individual’s emergency unemployment 

8 compensation account, as described in section 

9 4002, and the amount in such account shall be 

10 reduced accordingly. 

11 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON SELF-EMPLOYMENT

12 ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING EX13 TENDED COMPENSATION AND EMERGENCY UN14 EMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.— 

15 ‘‘(i) COMBINED ELIGIBILITY LIMIT.— 

16 Subject to clause (ii), for purposes of self17 employment assistance programs estab18 lished under this subsection and section 

19 208 of the Federal-State Extended Unem20 ployment Compensation Act of 1970, an 

21 individual shall be provided with self-em22 ployment assistance allowances under such 

23 programs for a total of not greater than 26 

24 weeks (referred to in this subsection as the 

25 ‘combined eligibility limit’). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CARRYOVER RULE.—For pur2 poses of an individual who is participating 

3 in a self-employment assistance program 

4 established under this subsection and has 

5 not reached the combined eligibility limit 

6 as of the date on which such individual ex7 hausts all rights to extended compensation 

8 under this title, the individual shall be eli9 gible to receive self-employment assistance 

10 allowances under a self-employment assist11 ance program established under section 

12 208 of the Federal-State Extended Unem13 ployment Compensation Act of 1970 until 

14 such individual has reached the combined 

15 eligibility limit, provided that the indi16 vidual otherwise satisfies the eligibility cri17 teria described under title II of such Act. 

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF ‘SELF-EMPLOYMENT AS19 SISTANCE PROGRAM’.—For the purposes of this sec20 tion, the term ‘self-employment assistance program’ 

21 means a program as defined under section 3306(t) 

22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, except as fol23 lows: 

24 ‘‘(A) all references to ‘regular unemploy25 ment compensation under the State law’ shall 


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1 be deemed to refer instead to ‘emergency unem2 ployment compensation under title IV of the 

3 Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008’; 

4 ‘‘(B) paragraph (3)(B) shall not apply; 

5 ‘‘(C) clause (i) of paragraph (3)(C) shall 

6 be deemed to state as follows: 

7 ‘‘ ‘(i) include any entrepreneurial 

8 training that the State or non-profit orga9 nizations may provide in coordination with 

10 programs of training offered by the Small 

11 Business Administration, which may in12 clude business counseling, mentorship for 

13 participants, access to small business de14 velopment resources, and technical assist15 ance; and’; 

16 ‘‘(D) the reference to ‘5 percent’ in para17 graph (4) shall be deemed to refer instead to ‘1 

18 percent’; and 

19 ‘‘(E) paragraph (5) shall not apply. 

20 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT AS21 SISTANCE ALLOWANCES.—In the case of an indi22 vidual who is eligible to receive emergency unemploy23 ment compensation payment under this title, such 

24 individual shall not receive self-employment assist25 ance allowances under this subsection unless the 


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1 State agency has a reasonable expectation that such 

2 individual will be entitled to at least 13 times the in3 dividual’s average weekly benefit amount of extended 

4 compensation and emergency unemployment com5 pensation. 

6 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPANT OPTION TO TERMINATE PAR7 TICIPATION IN SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PRO8 GRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(A) TERMINATION.—An individual who is 

10 participating in a self-employment assistance 

11 program established under this subsection may 

12 elect to discontinue participation in such pro13 gram at any time. 

14 ‘‘(B) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY FOR EMER15 GENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.—For 

16 purposes of an individual whose participation in 

17 the self-employment assistance program estab18 lished under this subsection is terminated pur19 suant to paragraph (1)(C) or who has discon20 tinued participation in such program, if the in21 dividual continues to satisfy the eligibility re22 quirements for emergency unemployment com23 pensation under this title, the individual shall 

24 receive emergency unemployment compensation 

25 payments with respect to subsequent weeks of 


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1 unemployment, to the extent that amounts re2 main in the account established for such indi3 vidual under section 4002(b) or to the extent 

4 that such individual commences receiving the 

5 amounts described in subsections (c), (d), or (e) 

6 of such section, respectively.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PRO8 GRAMS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OR IMPROVED ADMINIS11 TRATION.—Subject to the requirements established 

12 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall award 

13 grants to States for the purposes of— 

14 (A) improved administration of self-em15 ployment assistance programs that have been 

16 established, prior to the date of enactment of 

17 this Act, pursuant to section 3306(t) of the In18 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 

19 3306(t)), for individuals who are eligible to re20 ceive regular unemployment compensation; 

21 (B) development, implementation, and ad22 ministration of self-employment assistance pro23 grams that are established, subsequent to the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, pursuant to sec25 tion 3306(t) of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986, for individuals who are eligible to receive 

2 regular unemployment compensation; and 

3 (C) development, implementation, and ad4 ministration of self-employment assistance pro5 grams that are established pursuant to section 

6 208 of the Federal-State Extended Unemploy7 ment Compensation Act of 1970 or section 

8 4001(h) of the Supplemental Appropriations 

9 Act, 2008, for individuals who are eligible to re10 ceive extended compensation or emergency un11 employment compensation. 

12 (2) PROMOTION AND ENROLLMENT.—Subject 

13 to the requirements established under subsection (b), 

14 the Secretary shall award additional grants to States 

15 that submit approved applications for a grant under 

16 paragraph (1) for such States to promote self-em17 ployment assistance programs and enroll unem18 ployed individuals in such programs. 

19 (b) APPLICATION AND DISBURSAL.— 

20 (1) APPLICATION.—Any State seeking a grant 

21 under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) shall 

22 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 

23 in such manner, and containing such information as 

24 is determined appropriate by the Secretary. In no 

25 case shall the Secretary award a grant under this 


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1 section with respect to an application that is sub2 mitted after December 31, 2013. 

3 (2) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after re4 ceiving an application described in paragraph (1) 

5 from a State, the Secretary shall notify the State 

6 agency as to whether a grant has been approved for 

7 such State for the purposes described in subsection 

8 (a). 

9 (3) CERTIFICATION.—If the Secretary deter10 mines that a State has met the requirements for a 

11 grant under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 

12 a certification to that effect to the Secretary of the 

13 Treasury, as well as a certification as to the amount 

14 of the grant payment to be transferred to the State 

15 account in the Unemployment Trust Fund under 

16 section 904 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 1104). The Secretary of the Treasury shall make the 

18 appropriate transfer to the State account not later 

19 than 7 days after receiving such certification. 

20 (c) ALLOTMENT FACTORS.—For purposes of allot21 ting the funds available under subsection (d) to States 

22 that have met the requirements for a grant under this sec23 tion, the amount of the grant provided to each State shall 

24 be determined based upon the percentage of unemployed 


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1 individuals in the State relative to the percentage of unem2 ployed individuals in all States. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION.—For purposes of carrying out 

4 the grant program under this section, there is authorized 

5 to be appropriated $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

6 2012 through 2014. 

7 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE AND GUIDANCE IN IMPLEMENTING 

8 SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

9 (a) MODEL LANGUAGE AND GUIDANCE.—For pur10 poses of assisting States in establishing, improving, and 

11 administering self-employment assistance programs, the 

12 Secretary shall— 

13 (1) develop model language that may be used 

14 by States in enacting such programs, as well as peri15 odically review and revise such model language; and 

16 (2) provide technical assistance and guidance in 

17 establishing, improving, and administering such pro18 grams. 

19 (b) REPORTING AND EVALUATION.— 

20 (1) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 reporting requirements for States that have estab22 lished self-employment assistance programs, which 

23 shall include reporting on— 

24 (A) the total number of individuals who re25 ceived unemployment compensation and— 


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1 (i) were referred to a self-employment 

2 assistance program; 

3 (ii) participated in such program; and 

4 (iii) received an allowance under such 

5 program; 

6 (B) the total amount of allowances pro7 vided to individuals participating in a self-em8 ployment assistance program; 

9 (C) the total income (as determined by 

10 survey or other appropriate method) for busi11 nesses that have been established by individuals 

12 participating in a self-employment assistance 

13 program, as well as the total number of individ14 uals employed through such businesses; and 

15 (D) any additional information, as deter16 mined appropriate by the Secretary. 

17 (2) EVALUATION.—Not later than 5 years after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

19 shall submit to Congress a report that evaluates the 

20 effectiveness of self-employment assistance programs 

21 established by States, including— 

22 (A) an analysis of the implementation and 

23 operation of self-employment assistance pro24 grams by States; 


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1 (B) an evaluation of the economic out2 comes for individuals who participated in a self3 employment assistance program as compared to 

4 individuals who received unemployment com5 pensation and did not participate in a self-em6 ployment assistance program, including a com7 parison as to employment status, income, and 

8 duration of receipt of unemployment compensa9 tion or self-employment assistance allowances; 

10 and 

11 (C) an evaluation of the state of the busi12 nesses started by individuals who participated 

13 in a self-employment assistance program, in14 cluding information regarding— 

15 (i) the type of businesses established; 

16 (ii) the sustainability of the busi17 nesses; 

18 (iii) the total income collected by the 

19 businesses; 

20 (iv) the total number of individuals 

21 employed through such businesses; and 

22 (v) the estimated Federal and State 

23 tax revenue collected from such businesses 

24 and their employees. 


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1 (c) FLEXIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—The model 

2 language, guidance, and reporting requirements developed 

3 by the Secretary under subsections (a) and (b) shall— 

4 (1) allow sufficient flexibility for States and 

5 participating individuals; and 

6 (2) ensure accountability and program integ7 rity. 

8 (d) CONSULTATION.—For purposes of developing the 

9 model language, guidance, and reporting requirements de10 scribed under subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall 

11 consult with employers, labor organizations, State agen12 cies, and other relevant program experts. 

13 (e) ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.—The 

14 Secretary shall utilize resources available through the De15 partment of Labor and coordinate with the Administrator 

16 of the Small Business Administration to ensure that ade17 quate funding is reserved and made available for the provi18 sion of entrepreneurial training to individuals partici19 pating in self-employment assistance programs. 

20 (f) SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

21 For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘self-employment 

22 assistance program’’ means a program established pursu23 ant to section 3306(t) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

24 1986 (26 U.S.C. 3306(t)), section 208 of the Federal25 State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 


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1 1970, or section 4001(h) of the Supplemental Appropria2 tions Act, 2008, for individuals who are eligible to receive 

3 regular unemployment compensation, extended compensa4 tion, or emergency unemployment compensation. 

5 SEC. 5. PROGRAMS OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRA6 TION. 

7 (a) REPEAL OF AUTHORITY FOR THE PROGRAM FOR

8 INVESTMENT IN MICROENTREPRENEURS.— 

9 (1) REPEAL.—Subtitle C of title I of the Riegle 

10 Community Development and Regulatory Improve11 ment Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) is re12 pealed. 

13 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

14 subsection shall affect any grant or assistance pro15 vided under subtitle C of title I of the Riegle Com16 munity Development and Regulatory Improvement 

17 Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) before the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, and any such grant 

19 or assistance shall be subject to such subtitle C, as 

20 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 

21 this Act. 

22 (b) LOAN MODERNIZATION AND ACCOUNTING SYS23 TEM; SPECIAL PURPOSE COUNSELING GRANTS.— 

24 (1) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available 

25 under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, for 


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1 the appropriations account appropriated under the 

2 heading ‘‘SALARIES AND EXPENSES’’ under the 

3 heading ‘‘SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRA4 TION’’— 

5 (A) not more than $7,100,000 may be ex6 pended for the Loan Modernization and Ac7 counting System; and 

8 (B) $5,100,000 is rescinded. 

9 (2) TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis10 trator of the Small Business Administration shall 

11 terminate the Special Purpose Counseling Grant 

12 program under section 21 of the Small Business Act 

13 (15 U.S.C. 648). 

14 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Labor. 

18 (2) STATE; STATE AGENCY.—The terms 

19 ‘‘State’’ and ‘‘State agency’’ have the meanings 

20 given such terms under section 205 of the Federal21 State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 

22 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note). 

Æ 


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