II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2095 

To ensure that individuals who are in an authorized job training program 

or completing work for a degree or certificate remain eligible for regular 

unemployment compensation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2012 

Mr. FRANKEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To ensure that individuals who are in an authorized job 

training program or completing work for a degree or 

certificate remain eligible for regular 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 ‘‘Expanding Training 

5 Opportunities Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) in the United States, hundreds of thousands 

2 of high-quality jobs are unfilled because workers lack 

3 the skills or credentials required for employment in 

4 those positions; 

5 (2) innovative education programs, such as the 

6 ‘‘Right Skills Now’’ pilot program in Minnesota, are 

7 essential to rapidly re-training the American work8 force to match a changing economy, both now and 

9 in the future; 

10 (3) the promotion of nationally portable, indus11 try-recognized credentials will be a key component in 

12 the re-education of the American workforce; and 

13 (4) with unemployment rates at record levels, it 

14 is critical to ensure that unemployed workers have 

15 the opportunity to learn new skills and pursue edu16 cational opportunities while maintaining their eligi17 bility for unemployment benefits. 

18 SEC. 3. APPROVED TRAINING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304 of the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 3304) is amended by add21 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(g) APPROVED TRAINING.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

24 (a)(8), the term ‘training’ shall include any of the 

25 educational or job training programs described in 


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1 paragraph (2), with the programs described in such 

2 paragraph to be deemed approved by the State agen3 cy. 

4 ‘‘(2) EDUCATIONAL OR JOB TRAINING PRO5 GRAMS.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the pro6 grams described in this paragraph are— 

7 ‘‘(A) a job training program authorized 

8 under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

9 for which an individual has been determined to 

10 be eligible to participate; or 

11 ‘‘(B) for purposes of an individual who has 

12 been identified as likely to exhaust regular com13 pensation, any coursework necessary to attain a 

14 recognized postsecondary credential, provided 

15 that such credential can be attained by the indi16 vidual prior to the end of the individual’s ben17 efit year or the end of such period as is deter18 mined appropriate by the State agency, which19 ever is greater. 

20 ‘‘(3) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN21 TIAL.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 

22 ‘recognized postsecondary credential’ means a cre23 dential consisting of an industry-recognized certifi24 cate, a certificate of completion of an apprenticeship, 

25 or an associate or baccalaureate degree.’’. 


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1 (b) EXTENDED COMPENSATION.—Section 202(a) of 

2 the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation 

3 Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note) is amended by insert4 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of para6 graph (2), a State agency may elect to approve pro7 grams described in subsection (g)(2) of section 3304 

8 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for purposes 

9 of training included under subsection (a)(8) of such 

10 section.’’. 

11 (c) EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.— 

12 Section 4001(d)(2) of the Supplemental Appropriations 

13 Act, 2008 (Public Law 110–252; 26 U.S.C. 3304 note) 

14 is amended— 

15 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

16 the end; and 

17 (2) by inserting at the end the following new 

18 subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(C) that a State agency may elect to ap20 prove programs described in subsection (g)(2) 

21 of section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

22 1986 for purposes of training included under 

23 subsection (a)(8) of such section; and’’. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall take effect 2 years after the date of the 

3 enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION TO UNEMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent feasible and prac6 ticable, the State agency shall provide that applications 

7 for regular compensation include information regarding 

8 the availability of such compensation during periods in 

9 which an individual is engaged in training that has been 

10 approved by the State agency, as described in section 

11 3304(a)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 

12 U.S.C. 3304(a)(8)). 

13 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

14 terms ‘‘regular compensation’’ and ‘‘State agency’’ have 

15 the same meanings as in section 205 of the Federal-State 

16 Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. 

Æ 


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