I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2137 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize an unemployment 

assistance voucher program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 3, 2011 

Mr. RENACCI (for himself and Mr. CLARKE of Michigan) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize 

an unemployment assistance voucher program. 

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 ‘‘Empowering More 

5 Productive and Lasting Opportunity Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE VOUCH7 ER PROGRAMS. 

8 (a) USE OF UNEMPLOYMENT FUND FOR EMPLOY9 MENT ASSISTANCE VOUCHER PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) STATE LAW.—Section 3304(a)(4) of the In2 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

3 ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (F), by inserting 

4 ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (G), and by add5 ing at the end the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(H) during the 5-year period beginning 

7 on the date of the enactment of the Empow8 ering More Productive and Lasting Opportunity 

9 Act of 2011, amounts may be withdrawn for 

10 the payment of allowances under an employ11 ment assistance voucher program (as defined in 

12 section 3306(v));’’. 

13 (2) PERMISSIBLE EXPENDITURES.—Section 

14 3306(f) of such Code is amended— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para16 graph (5), 

17 (B) by redesignating the paragraph relat18 ing to the self-employment assistance program 

19 as paragraph (6) and striking the period at the 

20 end of such paragraph and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

21 and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(7) during the 5-year period beginning on the 

25 date of the enactment of the Empowering More ProVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jun 10, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2137.IH H2137

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1 ductive and Lasting Opportunity Act of 2011, 

2 amounts may be withdrawn for the payment of al3 lowances under an employment assistance voucher 

4 program (as defined in subsection (v)).’’. 

5 (b) EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE VOUCHER PROGRAM

6 DEFINED.—Section 3306 of such Code is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(v) EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE VOUCHER PRO9 GRAM.—For the purposes of this chapter— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘employment as11 sistance voucher program’ means a program under 

12 which— 

13 ‘‘(A) an eligible individual is issued an em14 ployment assistance voucher, 

15 ‘‘(B) upon employment with an employer 

16 described in paragraph (5)— 

17 ‘‘(i) the eligible individual transfers 

18 the employment assistance voucher to the 

19 employer, 

20 ‘‘(ii) the individual ceases to receive 

21 unemployment compensation and is paid 

22 wages by the employer, and 

23 ‘‘(iii) the employer receives payments 

24 upon presenting the voucher to the State, 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the program meets such other re2 quirements as the Secretary of Labor deter3 mines to be appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(2) RULES RELATING TO UNEMPLOYED INDI5 VIDUALS.—For purposes of paragraph (1)— 

6 ‘‘(A) COMPENSATION.—Compensation pur7 suant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii) shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) be at a rate equal to or greater 

9 than the percentage specified by State law 

10 (but in no event less than 110 percent) of 

11 the rate which would otherwise be payable 

12 to the individual, 

13 ‘‘(ii) not be less than the minimum 

14 wage (as specified in section 6 of the Fair 

15 Labor Standards Act of 1938), 

16 ‘‘(iii) be payable for a period not to 

17 exceed the maximum number of remaining 

18 weeks of unemployment compensation (in19 cluding supplemental and emergency) to 

20 which the employee would be entitled (but 

21 for participating in the employment assist22 ance voucher program), determined as of 

23 the date of employment. 

24 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—If, 

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1 paragraph (A)(iii), an individual’s employment 

2 with an employer under the employment assist3 ance voucher program is terminated for reasons 

4 other than cause, the individual is entitled to 

5 the remaining period of entitlement referred to 

6 in subparagraph (A)(iii) less the number of 

7 weeks of such employment. 

8 ‘‘(C) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS NOT TO

9 APPLY.—State requirements relating to avail10 ability for work, active search for work, and re11 fusal to accept work are not applicable to indi12 viduals participating in the employment assist13 ance voucher program. 

14 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE VOUCHER.— 

15 The term ‘employment assistance voucher’ means a 

16 voucher— 

17 ‘‘(A) obtained by an eligible individual pur18 suant to the State law, 

19 ‘‘(B) payable to the employer of the eligible 

20 individual— 

21 ‘‘(i) at a rate determined under State 

22 law but not to exceed 90 percent of the 

23 amount of unemployment compensation to 

24 which the eligible individual is entitled, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) on the same schedule as unem2 ployment compensation would be payable 

3 to the individual but for employment under 

4 the employment assistance voucher pro5 gram. 

6 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 

7 individual’ means an individual who— 

8 ‘‘(A) is eligible to receive regular unem9 ployment compensation under the State law, ex10 tended unemployment, or emergency unemploy11 ment or would be eligible to receive such com12 pensation except for the requirements described 

13 in paragraph (1)(B), 

14 ‘‘(B) is identified pursuant to a State 

15 worker profiling system as an individual likely 

16 to exhaust regular unemployment compensation, 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(C) is employed by an eligible employer. 

19 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—The term ‘eligible 

20 employer’ means an employer who agrees to the 

21 terms and conditions of employment under the un22 employment assistance voucher program and who is 

23 approved by the State agency. 

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1 uals participating in an unemployment assistance 

2 voucher program shall be treated as unemployed for 

3 the purposes of Federal and State laws applicable to 

4 unemployment compensation, except that wages paid 

5 to the employee under such program shall be subject 

6 to Federal and State taxation to the same extent 

7 and in the same manner as wages generally. 

8 ‘‘(7) COST LIMITER.—A State program shall 

9 not be treated as an employment assistance voucher 

10 program for purposes of this chapter unless the pro11 gram does not result in any cost to the Unemploy12 ment Trust Fund (established by section 904(a) of 

13 the Social Security Act) in excess of the cost that 

14 would be incurred by such State and charged to 

15 such Fund, or to any Federal funds in the system 

16 if the State had not participated in such program. 

17 ‘‘(8) PREVENTION OF EMPLOYMENT TERMI18 NATION TO PARTICIPATE IN PROGRAM.—A State 

19 program shall not be treated as an employment as20 sistance voucher program for purposes of this chap21 ter unless the State has in effect measures to pre22 vent employers from terminating employment for 

23 purposes of participating in the employment assist24 ance voucher program.’’. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 303(a)(5) 

2 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 503(a)(5)) is amend3 ed by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting ‘‘: Provided further, 

4 That amounts may be withdrawn for the payment of al5 lowances under an employment assistance voucher pro6 gram (as defined in section 3306(v) of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986); and’’. 

8 (d) STATE REPORTS.—Any State operating an em9 ployment assistance voucher program approved by the 

10 Secretary of Labor pursuant to section 3304(a)(4)(H) of 

11 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this sec12 tion) shall report annually to the Secretary on the number 

13 of individuals who participate in the program, the oper14 ating costs of the program, compliance with program re15 quirements, and any other relevant aspects of program op16 erations requested by the Secretary. 

17 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 4 years 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

19 of Labor shall submit a report to the Congress with re20 spect to the operation of the employment assistance vouch21 er program. Such report shall be based on the reports re22 ceived from the States pursuant to subsection (d) and in23 clude such other information as the Secretary of Labor 

24 determines is appropriate. 


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1 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of this section 

2 and the amendments made by this section shall take effect 

3 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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