II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2865 

To improve the unemployment insurance program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 

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

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To improve the unemployment insurance 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Unemployment Insurance Improvement Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Floor on the number of weeks. 

Sec. 3. Base period. 

Sec. 4. Minimum level of prior employment. 

Sec. 5. Part-time work. 

Sec. 6. Access to benefits. 


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1 SEC. 2. FLOOR ON THE NUMBER OF WEEKS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304(a) of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (2) by redesignating paragraph (19) as para7 graph (20); and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (18) the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(19) the minimum duration of benefits is at 

11 least 26 weeks and no variable duration formula 

12 that provides for maximum weeks of benefits of 

13 fewer than 26 weeks is used, or, in the case of a 

14 State that uses a maximum benefit entitlement, an 

15 individual’s maximum benefit entitlement may not 

16 be less than 26 times the individual’s weekly benefit 

17 amount; and’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 subsection (a) shall apply to weeks of unemployment be20 ginning on or after the earlier of— 

21 (1) the date the State changes its statutes, reg22 ulations, or policies in order to comply with such 

23 amendments; or 

24 (2) January 1, 2024. 


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1 SEC. 3. BASE PERIOD. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304(a) of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by section 2, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (19), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

6 end; 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraph (20) as para8 graph (21); and 

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (19) the fol10 lowing new paragraphs: 

11 ‘‘(20) the State law— 

12 ‘‘(A) uses a base period that consists of at 

13 least 4 completed calendar quarters preceding 

14 the effective date of the claim and includes the 

15 most recently completed calendar quarter before 

16 the start of the benefit year for purposes of de17 termining eligibility for unemployment com18 pensation; or 

19 ‘‘(B) provides that, in the case of an indi20 vidual who would not otherwise be eligible for 

21 unemployment compensation under the State 

22 law because of the use of a base period that 

23 does not meet the requirements described in 

24 subparagraph (A), eligibility is determined 

25 using a base period that consists of at least 4 

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1 fective date of the claim and includes the most 

2 recently completed calendar quarter before the 

3 start of the benefit year; and’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 subsection (a) shall apply to weeks of unemployment be6 ginning on or after the earlier of— 

7 (1) the date the State changes its statutes, reg8 ulations, or policies in order to comply with such 

9 amendments; or 

10 (2) January 1, 2024. 

11 SEC. 4. MINIMUM LEVEL OF PRIOR EMPLOYMENT. 

12 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304(a) of the In14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by sec15 tions 2 and 3, is amended— 

16 (A) in paragraph (20), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

17 at the end; 

18 (B) by redesignating paragraph (21) as 

19 paragraph (22); and 

20 (C) by inserting after paragraph (20) the 

21 following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(21) compensation is not denied to an other23 wise eligible individual if the individual earned at 

24 least $1,000 in covered wages during the highest 


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1 quarter of the base period and at least $1,500 in 

2 covered wages during the base period; and’’. 

3 (2) STATE MAY REDUCE MINIMUM THRESH4 OLDS.—Nothing in paragraph (21) of section 

5 3304(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 

6 added by paragraph (1), shall preclude a State from 

7 reducing the dollar thresholds described in such 

8 paragraph (22). 

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 subsection (a) shall apply to weeks of unemployment be11 ginning on or after the earlier of— 

12 (1) the date the State changes its statutes, reg13 ulations, or policies in order to comply with such 

14 amendments; or 

15 (2) January 1, 2024. 

16 SEC. 5. PART-TIME WORK. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304(a) of the Internal 

18 Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by sections 2, 3, and 

19 4, is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (21), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

21 end; 

22 (2) by redesignating paragraph (22) as para23 graph (25); and 

24 (3) by inserting after paragraph (21) the fol25 lowing new paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(22) an individual is not denied unemployment 

2 compensation under any State law provisions relat3 ing to ability to work, availability for work, active 

4 search for work, or refusal to accept work, solely on 

5 the basis of the number of hours of work such indi6 vidual is seeking, provided that the individual is 

7 seeking at least the lesser of— 

8 ‘‘(A) 20 hours of work per week; or 

9 ‘‘(B) a number of hours of work per week 

10 equal to at least one half of the typical number 

11 of hours worked per week in the individual’s 

12 base period; 

13 ‘‘(23) an individual may claim benefits for a 

14 week of partial unemployment, including in cir15 cumstances where an individual has had their hours 

16 reduced or performs part-time work while continuing 

17 to search for additional part-time or full-time work, 

18 if their earnings are less than the individual’s weekly 

19 benefit amount; 

20 ‘‘(24) when determining the weekly benefit 

21 amount for an individual claiming a benefit for a 

22 week of partial unemployment, the State disregards, 

at a minimum, earnings equal to 1 23 ⁄3 of the individ24 ual’s weekly benefit amount in computing the indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Sep 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2865.IS S2865

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1 vidual’s weekly benefit for partial unemployment; 

2 and’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 subsection (a) shall apply to weeks of unemployment be5 ginning on or after the earlier of— 

6 (1) the date the State changes its statutes, reg7 ulations, or policies in order to comply with such 

8 amendments; or 

9 (2) January 1, 2024. 

10 SEC. 6. ACCESS TO BENEFITS. 

11 Section 303 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 503) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

13 subsection: 

14 ‘‘(n) ACCESS TO BENEFITS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 

16 2024, the State agency charged with the administra17 tion of the State law shall, in accordance with stand18 ards established by the Secretary— 

19 ‘‘(A) require that employers in the State 

20 provide information regarding claim-filing for 

21 unemployment compensation to employees upon 

22 separation from employment; 

23 ‘‘(B) have in place methods for employers 

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1 pensation due to short-term layoffs, business 

2 shutdowns, partial unemployment, and short3 time compensation; 

4 ‘‘(C) ensure that any online claim-filing 

5 system used by the State— 

6 ‘‘(i) can be readily understood and 

7 used by the vast majority of applicants and 

8 claimants, including individuals with lim9 ited English proficiency, individuals with 

10 disabilities, older individuals, and individ11 uals with literacy challenges; 

12 ‘‘(ii) is available in any language spo13 ken by more than 1 percent of the State’s 

14 population (with such translations com15 pleted by human translators rather than 

16 translation software); 

17 ‘‘(iii) is accessible and optimized for 

18 all commonly used desktop computers, tab19 lets, and mobile devices and operating sys20 tems such that any features of the online 

21 claim filing component (such as the ability 

22 to upload documentation) that are avail23 able in the desktop version of the online 

24 claim filing component are also available in 

25 the tablet and mobile versions; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) allows for electronic submission 

2 of documentation required to support a 

3 claim, including the ability of applicants 

4 and claimants to scan or photograph and 

5 submit documentation using a tablet or 

6 mobile device; 

7 ‘‘(v) is available 24 hours a day, 7 

8 days a week, with the exception of sched9 uled and emergency maintenance that shall 

10 be conducted, to the extent practicable, at 

11 nonpeak hours; 

12 ‘‘(vi) provides self-service account re13 covery that can be completed online; and 

14 ‘‘(vii) deploys multiple methods of 

15 communication with applicants and claim16 ants, such as short message service (SMS) 

17 message, email, postal mail, live chat, or 

18 chatbots; and 

19 ‘‘(D) ensure that alternate means of claim 

20 filing are available for individuals who are un21 able to file through the State’s online claim-fil22 ing system. 

23 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—Whenever the Secretary 

24 of Labor, after reasonable notice and opportunity for 

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1 istration of the State law, finds that there is a fail2 ure to comply substantially with the requirements of 

3 paragraph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall notify 

4 such State agency that further payments will not be 

5 made to the State until the Secretary of Labor is 

6 satisfied that there is no longer any such failure. 

7 Until the Secretary of Labor is so satisfied, such 

8 Secretary shall make no future certification to the 

9 Secretary of the Treasury with respect to the 

10 State.’’. 

Æ 


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