I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1091 

To amend certain provisions of the Social Security Act relating to demonstration projects designed to promote the reemployment of unemployed workers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2017 

Mr. RENACCI (for himself, Mr. BUCSHON, and Mr. KILMER) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To amend certain provisions of the Social Security Act relating to demonstration projects designed to promote the 

reemployment of unemployed workers. 

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 ‘‘Flexibility to Promote 

5 Reemployment Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO PROMOTE REEMPLOY2 MENT THROUGH DEMONSTRATION 

3 PROJECTS. 

4 (a) MODIFICATION OF NUMERICAL LIMITATION.— 

5 Subsection (a) of section 305 of the Social Security Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 505) is amended by inserting ‘‘per year’’ after 

7 ‘‘10 States’’. 

8 (b) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION REQUIRE9 MENTS.—Subsection (b) of such section 305 is amended— 

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘or his or her designee’’ after 

11 ‘‘The Governor of any State’’; and 

12 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(2) for any waiver requested under subsection 

15 (c), a statement describing— 

16 ‘‘(A) the specific provision or provisions of 

17 law for which such waiver is requested; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the specific aspects of the project to 

19 which such waiver would apply and the reasons 

20 why it is needed;’’. 

21 (c) EXTENSION OF ELIGIBLE TIME PERIOD.—Sub22 section (d) of such section 305 is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘may not be 

24 approved’’ and inserting ‘‘may not be conducted’’; 

25 and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘December 

2 31, 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2021’’. 

3 (d) CLARIFICATION OF DEMONSTRATION ACTIVI4 TIES.—Subsection (e) of such section 305 is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘for employer6 provided training, such as’’ and inserting ‘‘to em7 ployers or claimants for employer-provided training 

8 or’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, not to ex10 ceed the weekly benefit amount for each such indi11 vidual, to pay part of the cost of wages that exceed 

12 the unemployed individual’s prior benefit level’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘that include disbursements promoting re14 tention’’. 

15 (e) SELECTION OF QUALIFYING APPLICATIONS ON A

16 FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS.—Subsection (f) of 

17 such section 305 is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

19 paragraphs (2) and (3); and 

20 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redes21 ignated by this subsection) the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) approve completed applications in the 

23 order of receipt;’’. 


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1 (f) TERMINATION OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 

2 Subsection (g) of such section 305 is amended to read as 

3 follows: 

4 ‘‘(g) The Secretary of Labor may terminate a dem5 onstration project under this section if the Secretary— 

6 ‘‘(1) determines that the State has violated the 

7 substantive terms or conditions of the project; 

8 ‘‘(2) notifies the State in writing with sufficient 

9 detail describing the violation; and 

10 ‘‘(3) determines that the State has not taken 

11 action to correct the violation within 90 days after 

12 the notification.’’. 

13 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION RULE.— 

14 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

15 by this section shall take effect on the date of the 

16 enactment of this Act. 

17 (2) TRANSITION RULE.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act 

19 shall be considered to terminate or otherwise af20 fect any demonstration project approved under 

21 section 305 of the Social Security Act before 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (B) ORIGINAL CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO

24 APPLY.—A demonstration project described in 

25 subparagraph (A) shall be conducted in the 


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1 same manner as if subsections (a) through (f) 

2 had not been enacted. 

3 SEC. 3. EVALUATION OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 305 of the Social Security 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 505) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(i) The Secretary of Labor shall conduct an impact 

8 evaluation of each demonstration project conducted under 

9 this section, using existing data sources to the extent pos10 sible and methodology appropriate to determine the effects 

11 of the demonstration project, including on individual skill 

12 levels, earnings, and employment retention.’’. 

13 (b) COOPERATION BY STATE.—Section 305(b) of the 

14 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 505(b)) (as amended by 

15 section 2(b) of this Act) is further amended by striking 

16 paragraphs (5) and (6) and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(5) a description of the manner in which the 

18 State will determine the extent to which the goals 

19 and outcomes described in paragraph (3) were 

20 achieved; 

21 ‘‘(6) assurances that the State will cooperate, in 

22 a timely manner, with the Secretary of Labor with 

23 respect to the impact evaluation conducted under 

24 subsection (i); and’’. 


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1 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than 90 days after the 

2 end of fiscal year 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter, 

3 until the completion of the last evaluation under section 

4 305(i) of the Social Security Act, the Secretary shall sub5 mit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 

6 of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 

7 Senate, a report that includes a description of— 

8 (1) the status of each demonstration project 

9 being carried out under this section; 

10 (2) the results of the evaluation completed dur11 ing the previous fiscal year; and 

12 (3) the Secretary’s plan for— 

13 (A) disseminating the findings of the re14 port to appropriate State agencies; and 

15 (B) incorporating the components of suc16 cessful demonstration projects that reduced 

17 benefit duration and increased employment into 

18 Federal unemployment law. 

19 (d) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION.—In addition to the re20 porting requirements under subparagraph (c), evaluation 

21 results shall be shared broadly to inform policy makers, 

22 service providers, other partners, and the public in order 

23 to promote wide use of successful strategies, including by 


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1 posting evaluation results on the Internet website of the 

2 Department of Labor. 

Æ 


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