II 

Calendar No. 391 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1759 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 10, 2019 

Received 

DECEMBER 18, 2019 

Read the first time 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To amend title III of the Social Security Act to extend 

reemployment services and eligibility assessments to all 

claimants for unemployment benefits, 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 ‘‘Building on Reemploy5 ment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for 

6 Workers Act’’ or the ‘‘BRIDGE for Workers Act’’. 


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HR 1759 PCS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Public 

4 Law 115–123) improved program accountability for 

5 effectively serving unemployed workers and made a 

6 significant new investment in reemployment services. 

7 (2) Research shows the longer workers are out 

8 of work, the harder it can be to maintain their skills, 

9 professional network, and stable home life. 

10 (3) Reemployment services give workers who 

11 might otherwise struggle to find new jobs the tools 

12 that they need to get back to work—such as individ13 ualized career counseling and job search help as well 

14 as local labor market information—and they can 

15 serve as an entry point to the workforce development 

16 system. 

17 (4) Reemployment services have been dem18 onstrated to reduce the number of weeks that pro19 gram participants receive unemployment benefits by 

20 improving their employment outcomes, including 

21 earnings. 

22 (5) Unemployment benefits replace less than 

23 half of working income, on average, so workers who 

24 find new jobs quickly suffer less financial hardship. 

25 (6) Combining targeted reemployment services 

26 with unemployment benefits helps keep people atVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1759.PCS H1759

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HR 1759 PCS

1 tached to the labor force who might otherwise be2 come discouraged and drop out. 

3 (7) The Congressional Budget Office estimates 

4 that, over time, investments in reemployment serv5 ices create savings for taxpayers and unemployment 

6 trust funds by reducing spending on unemployment 

7 benefits. 

8 (8) Many different types of workers can benefit 

9 from reemployment services. Reemployment services 

10 should be used to shorten the duration of unemploy11 ment for workers even if they are not projected to 

12 fully exhaust their unemployment benefits. 

13 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR REEMPLOYMENT SERVICES. 

14 Section 306(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 506(a)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘individuals referred to reem17 ployment services as described in section 303(j)’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘claimants for unemployment com19 pensation, including claimants referred to reemploy20 ment services as described in section 303(j),’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘such claimants’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 9, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 391 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1759 

AN ACT 

To amend title III of the Social Security Act to exfits, and for other purposes. ments to all claimants for unemployment bene- tend reemployment services and eligibility assessDECEMBER 19, 2019 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS