I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2188 

To provide relief to workers impacted by COVID–19 and support for 

reopening businesses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Mr. BRADY (for himself, Mr. HERN, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, Mr. 

SCHWEIKERT, Mr. LAHOOD, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. 

RICE of South Carolina, Mr. ESTES, Mr. NUNES, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, 

and Mr. SMUCKER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees 

on Rules, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide relief to workers impacted by COVID–19 and 

support for reopening businesses, 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 ‘‘Reopening America 

5 by Supporting Workers and Businesses Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TIME-LIMITED BACK-TO-WORK BONUSES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2104(b) of the Cares Act 

3 (Public Law 116–136) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para5 graph (5); and 

6 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(4) BACK-TO-WORK BONUSES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any agreement under 

10 this section may also provide that the State 

11 agency of the State may make a one-time lump 

12 sum payment to each individual who— 

13 ‘‘(i) was eligible for Federal Pandemic 

14 Unemployment Compensation under para15 graph (1) for any week beginning after the 

16 date of enactment of the Reopening Amer17 ica by Supporting Workers and Businesses 

18 Act of 2021; 

19 ‘‘(ii) is no longer so eligible (as deter20 mined by the State), as a result of earn21 ings due to commencing employment; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) as verified by the individual’s 

23 employer pursuant to subparagraph (E)— 

24 ‘‘(I) has been employed by a non25 governmental employer throughout 

26 the individual’s qualifying period; 


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1 ‘‘(II) is employed for wages 

2 equivalent to an annual salary of not 

3 more than $75,000; and 

4 ‘‘(III) remains employed with an 

5 intent to continue such employment. 

6 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—A payment made to an 

7 individual under this paragraph shall be paid in 

8 a lump sum amount of— 

9 ‘‘(i) $1,200 in the case of an indi10 vidual who on average is working at least 

11 30 hours or more per week during the 

12 qualifying period; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) $600 in the case of an individual 

14 who on average is working at least 20 

15 hours or more per week, but less than 30 

16 hours, during the qualifying period. 

17 ‘‘(C) QUALIFYING PERIOD.—For purposes 

18 of this paragraph, the term ‘qualifying period’ 

19 means, with respect to an individual, a period— 

20 ‘‘(i) beginning on the date the indi21 vidual commenced employment as de22 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) extending at least 4 consecutive 

24 weeks from such date. 


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1 ‘‘(D) DURATION.—No lump sum payment 

2 may be made to any individual under this para3 graph with respect to a qualifying period begin4 ning on or after July 1, 2021. 

5 ‘‘(E) EMPLOYER VERIFICATION.—Before 

6 making a lump sum payment to an individual 

7 pursuant to this paragraph, a State agency 

8 shall require verification from the individual’s 

9 employer— 

10 ‘‘(i) of the individual’s employment 

11 status; 

12 ‘‘(ii) of the wages paid to the indi13 vidual during the qualifying period; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) of the hours worked by the indi15 vidual during the qualifying period. 

16 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION.—A State may not pro17 vide more than one payment under this para18 graph to an individual. 

19 ‘‘(G) SPECIAL RULE.—Payments made 

20 pursuant to an agreement under this paragraph 

21 shall not be considered to violate the withdrawal 

22 requirements of section 303(a)(5) of the Social 

23 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 503(a)(5)) or section 

24 3304(a)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

25 1986.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2104 of 

2 such Act is amended— 

3 (1) in subsections (d) and (f), by inserting ‘‘, 

4 payments under subsection (b)(4),’’ after ‘‘Federal 

5 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation’’ each place 

6 it appears; and 

7 (2) in subsection (g)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) the purposes of the preceding provisions of 

14 this section, as such provisions apply with respect to 

15 payments under subsection (b)(4), shall be applied 

16 with respect to unemployment benefits described in 

17 subsection (i)(2) to the same extent and in the same 

18 manner as if those benefits were regular compensa19 tion.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. ACCELERATED FUNDING INCREASE FOR REEM21 PLOYMENT SERVICES AND ELIGIBILITY AS22 SESSMENTS. 

23 Section 314(g)(1)(D) of the Congressional Budget 

24 Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 645(g)(1)(D)) is amended by— 


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1 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘$133,000,000’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘$433,000,000’’; and 

3 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘$258,000,000’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘$433,000,000’’. 

5 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR REEMPLOYMENT SERVICES. 

6 (a) CARES ACT.— 

7 (1) PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE.— 

8 Section 2102 of the Cares Act (Public Law 116– 

9 136) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBILITY FOR REEMPLOYMENT SERVICES.— 

11 Pandemic unemployment assistance under this section 

12 shall be treated as unemployment compensation for the 

13 purposes of section 306 of the Social Security Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 506).’’. 

15 (2) PANDEMIC EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT

16 COMPENSATION.—Section 2107 of the Cares Act 

17 (Public Law 116–136) is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following: 

19 ‘‘(h) ELIGIBILITY FOR REEMPLOYMENT SERVICES.— 

20 Pandemic emergency unemployment compensation under 

21 this section shall be treated as unemployment compensa22 tion for the purposes of section 306 of the Social Security 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 506).’’. 

24 (b) SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Section 306(a) of the 

25 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 506(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘individuals referred to reem2 ployment services as described in section 303(j)’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘claimants for unemployment com4 pensation, including claimants referred to reemploy5 ment services as described in section 303(j),’’; and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘such individuals’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘such claimants’’. 

8 SEC. 5. REINSTATING FEDERAL WORK SEARCH REQUIRE9 MENT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4102(b) of the Families 

11 First Coronavirus Relief Act (26 U.S.C. 3304 note) is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘work search,’’ after ‘‘with respect 

13 to’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made under 

15 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 30 days 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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