I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2219 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2015 

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Mr. BERA) introduced the 

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

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 ‘‘Opportunity Kindling 

5 New Options for Career and Knowledge Seekers Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Opportunity KNOCKS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to allow people to seek 

3 the training needed in order to find a full time job that 

4 allows them to go off of unemployment compensation. 

5 SEC. 3. APPROVED TRAINING. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304 of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 3304) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(g) APPROVED TRAINING.— 

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

11 (a)(8)— 

12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘training’ includes any of 

13 the educational or job training programs de14 scribed in paragraph (2), and 

15 ‘‘(B) such programs shall be treated as ap16 proved by the State agency. 

17 ‘‘(2) EDUCATIONAL OR JOB TRAINING PRO18 GRAMS.—The programs described in this paragraph 

19 are— 

20 ‘‘(A) any program on the State’s eligible 

21 training provider list developed under section 

22 122 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998; 

23 or 

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

25 been identified as likely to exhaust regular comVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 May 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2219.IH H2219

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1 pensation, any coursework necessary to attain a 

2 recognized postsecondary credential. 

3 ‘‘(3) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN4 TIAL.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 

5 ‘recognized postsecondary credential’ means a cre6 dential consisting of an industry-recognized certifi7 cate, a certificate of completion of an apprenticeship, 

8 or an associate or baccalaureate degree.’’. 

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

10 the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation 

11 Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note) is amended by insert12 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of para14 graph (2), a State agency may elect to approve pro15 grams described in subsection (g)(2) of section 3304 

16 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for purposes 

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

18 section.’’. 

19 (c) EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.— 

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

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

22 is amended— 

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

24 the end; and 


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

2 subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(C) that a State agency may elect to ap4 prove programs described in subsection (g)(2) 

5 of section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 for purposes of training included under 

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

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

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

10 enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION TO UNEMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent feasible and prac13 ticable, the State agency shall provide that applications 

14 for regular compensation include information regarding 

15 the availability of such compensation during periods in 

16 which an individual is engaged in training that has been 

17 approved by the State agency, as described in section 

18 3304(a)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 

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

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

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

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

23 Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. 

Æ 


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