I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5749 

To provide for a program of emergency unemployment compensation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2008 

Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself and Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania) introduced 

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

A BILL 

To provide for a program of emergency 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act 

6 of 2008’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Federal-State agreements. 

Sec. 3. Emergency unemployment compensation account. 

Sec. 4. Payments to States having agreements for the payment of emergency 

unemployment compensation. 

Sec. 5. Financing provisions. 


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Sec. 6. Fraud and overpayments. 

Sec. 7. Definitions. 

Sec. 8. Applicability. 

1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any State which desires to do so 

3 may enter into and participate in an agreement under this 

4 Act with the Secretary of Labor (in this Act referred to 

5 as the ‘‘Secretary’’). Any State which is a party to an 

6 agreement under this Act may, upon providing 30 days’ 

7 written notice to the Secretary, terminate such agreement. 

8 (b) PROVISIONS OF AGREEMENT.—Any agreement 

9 under subsection (a) shall provide that the State agency 

10 of the State will make payments of emergency unemploy11 ment compensation to individuals who— 

12 (1) have exhausted all rights to regular com13 pensation under the State law or under Federal law 

14 with respect to a benefit year (excluding any benefit 

15 year that ended before May 1, 2007); 

16 (2) have no rights to regular compensation or 

17 extended compensation with respect to a week under 

18 such law or any other State unemployment com19 pensation law or to compensation under any other 

20 Federal law; and 

21 (3) are not receiving compensation with respect 

22 to such week under the unemployment compensation 

23 law of Canada. 


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1 (c) EXHAUSTION OF BENEFITS.—For purposes of 

2 subsection (b)(1), an individual shall be deemed to have 

3 exhausted such individual’s rights to regular compensation 

4 under a State law when— 

5 (1) no payments of regular compensation can 

6 be made under such law because such individual has 

7 received all regular compensation available to such 

8 individual based on employment or wages during 

9 such individual’s base period; or 

10 (2) such individual’s rights to such compensa11 tion have been terminated by reason of the expira12 tion of the benefit year with respect to which such 

13 rights existed. 

14 (d) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT, ETC.—For purposes 

15 of any agreement under this Act— 

16 (1) the amount of emergency unemployment 

17 compensation which shall be payable to any indi18 vidual for any week of total unemployment shall be 

19 equal to the amount of the regular compensation 

20 (including dependents’ allowances) payable to such 

21 individual during such individual’s benefit year 

22 under the State law for a week of total unemploy23 ment; 

24 (2) the terms and conditions of the State law 

25 which apply to claims for regular compensation and 


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1 to the payment thereof shall apply to claims for 

2 emergency unemployment compensation and the 

3 payment thereof, except where otherwise inconsistent 

4 with the provisions of this Act or with the regula5 tions or operating instructions of the Secretary pro6 mulgated to carry out this Act; and 

7 (3) the maximum amount of emergency unem8 ployment compensation payable to any individual for 

9 whom an emergency unemployment compensation 

10 account is established under section 3 shall not ex11 ceed the amount established in such account for 

12 such individual. 

13 (e) ELECTION BY STATES.—Notwithstanding any 

14 other provision of Federal law (and if State law permits), 

15 the Governor of a State that is in an extended benefit pe16 riod may provide for the payment of emergency unemploy17 ment compensation prior to extended compensation to in18 dividuals who otherwise meet the requirements of this sec19 tion. 

20 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION AC21 COUNT. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any agreement under this Act 

23 shall provide that the State will establish, for each eligible 

24 individual who files an application for emergency unem25 ployment compensation, an emergency unemployment 


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1 compensation account with respect to such individual’s 

2 benefit year. 

3 (b) AMOUNT IN ACCOUNT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount established in 

5 an account under subsection (a) shall be equal to the 

6 lesser of— 

7 (A) 50 percent of the total amount of reg8 ular compensation (including dependents’ allow9 ances) payable to the individual during the indi10 vidual’s benefit year under such law, or 

11 (B) 13 times the individual’s average week12 ly benefit amount for the benefit year. 

13 (2) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT.—For purposes 

14 of this subsection, an individual’s weekly benefit 

15 amount for any week is the amount of regular com16 pensation (including dependents’ allowances) under 

17 the State law payable to such individual for such 

18 week for total unemployment. 

19 (c) SPECIAL RULE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of this section, if, at the time that the indi22 vidual’s account is exhausted, such individual’s State 

23 is in an extended benefit period (as determined 

24 under paragraph (2)), then, such account shall be 

25 augmented by an amount equal to the amount origiVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:31 Apr 11, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5749.IH H5749

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1 nally established in such account (as determined 

2 under subsection (b)(1)). 

3 (2) EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD.—For pur4 poses of paragraph (1), a State shall be considered 

5 to be in an extended benefit period if, at the time 

6 of exhaustion (as described in paragraph (1))— 

7 (A) such a period is then in effect for such 

8 State under the Federal-State Extended Unem9 ployment Compensation Act of 1970; 

10 (B) such a period would then be in effect 

11 for such State under such Act if section 203(d) 

12 of such Act— 

13 (i) were applied by substituting ‘‘4’’ 

14 for ‘‘5’’ each place it appears; and 

15 (ii) did not include the requirement 

16 under paragraph (1)(A); or 

17 (C) such a period would then be in effect 

18 for such State under such Act if— 

19 (i) section 203(f) of such Act were ap20 plied to such State (regardless of whether 

21 the State by law had provided for such ap22 plication); and 

23 (ii) such section 203(f)— 


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1 (I) were applied by substituting 

2 ‘‘6.0’’ for ‘‘6.5’’ in paragraph 

3 (1)(A)(i); and 

4 (II) did not include the require5 ment under paragraph (1)(A)(ii). 

6 SEC. 4. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS FOR 

7 THE PAYMENT OF EMERGENCY UNEMPLOY8 MENT COMPENSATION. 

9 (a) GENERAL RULE.—There shall be paid to each 

10 State that has entered into an agreement under this Act 

11 an amount equal to 100 percent of the emergency unem12 ployment compensation paid to individuals by the State 

13 pursuant to such agreement. 

14 (b) TREATMENT OF REIMBURSABLE COMPENSA15 TION.—No payment shall be made to any State under this 

16 section in respect of any compensation to the extent the 

17 State is entitled to reimbursement in respect of such com18 pensation under the provisions of any Federal law other 

19 than this Act or chapter 85 of title 5, United States Code. 

20 A State shall not be entitled to any reimbursement under 

21 such chapter 85 in respect of any compensation to the ex22 tent the State is entitled to reimbursement under this Act 

23 in respect of such compensation. 

24 (c) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Sums payable to 

25 any State by reason of such State having an agreement 


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1 under this Act shall be payable, either in advance or by 

2 way of reimbursement (as may be determined by the Sec3 retary), in such amounts as the Secretary estimates the 

4 State will be entitled to receive under this Act for each 

5 calendar month, reduced or increased, as the case may be, 

6 by any amount by which the Secretary finds that the Sec7 retary’s estimates for any prior calendar month were 

8 greater or less than the amounts which should have been 

9 paid to the State. Such estimates may be made on the 

10 basis of such statistical, sampling, or other method as may 

11 be agreed upon by the Secretary and the State agency of 

12 the State involved. 

13 SEC. 5. FINANCING PROVISIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Funds in the extended unemploy15 ment compensation account (as established by section 

16 905(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1105(a)) of 

17 the Unemployment Trust Fund (as established by section 

18 904(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1104(a)) shall be used for 

19 the making of payments to States having agreements en20 tered into under this Act. 

21 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall from time 

22 to time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for pay23 ment to each State the sums payable to such State under 

24 this Act. The Secretary of the Treasury, prior to audit 

25 or settlement by the Government Accountability Office, 


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1 shall make payments to the State in accordance with such 

2 certification, by transfers from the extended unemploy3 ment compensation account (as so established) to the ac4 count of such State in the Unemployment Trust Fund (as 

5 so established). 

6 (c) ASSISTANCE TO STATES.—There are appro7 priated out of the employment security administration ac8 count (as established by section 901(a) of the Social Secu9 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1101(a)) of the Unemployment Trust 

10 Fund, without fiscal year limitation, such funds as may 

11 be necessary for purposes of assisting States (as provided 

12 in title III of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 et 

13 seq.)) in meeting the costs of administration of agree14 ments under this Act. 

15 (d) APPROPRIATIONS FOR CERTAIN PAYMENTS.— 

16 There are appropriated from the general fund of the 

17 Treasury, without fiscal year limitation, to the extended 

18 unemployment compensation account (as so established) 

19 of the Unemployment Trust Fund (as so established) such 

20 sums as the Secretary estimates to be necessary to make 

21 the payments under this section in respect of— 

22 (1) compensation payable under chapter 85 of 

23 title 5, United States Code; and 


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1 (2) compensation payable on the basis of serv2 ices to which section 3309(a)(1) of the Internal Rev3 enue Code of 1986 applies. 

4 Amounts appropriated pursuant to the preceding sentence 

5 shall not be required to be repaid. 

6 SEC. 6. FRAUD AND OVERPAYMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual knowingly has 

8 made, or caused to be made by another, a false statement 

9 or representation of a material fact, or knowingly has 

10 failed, or caused another to fail, to disclose a material fact, 

11 and as a result of such false statement or representation 

12 or of such nondisclosure such individual has received an 

13 amount of emergency unemployment compensation under 

14 this Act to which he was not entitled, such individual— 

15 (1) shall be ineligible for further emergency un16 employment compensation under this Act in accord17 ance with the provisions of the applicable State un18 employment compensation law relating to fraud in 

19 connection with a claim for unemployment com20 pensation; and 

21 (2) shall be subject to prosecution under section 

22 1001 of title 18, United States Code. 

23 (b) REPAYMENT.—In the case of individuals who 

24 have received amounts of emergency unemployment com25 pensation under this Act to which they were not entitled, 


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1 the State shall require such individuals to repay the 

2 amounts of such emergency unemployment compensation 

3 to the State agency, except that the State agency may 

4 waive such repayment if it determines that— 

5 (1) the payment of such emergency unemploy6 ment compensation was without fault on the part of 

7 any such individual; and 

8 (2) such repayment would be contrary to equity 

9 and good conscience. 

10 (c) RECOVERY BY STATE AGENCY.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State agency may re12 cover the amount to be repaid, or any part thereof, 

13 by deductions from any emergency unemployment 

14 compensation payable to such individual under this 

15 Act or from any unemployment compensation pay16 able to such individual under any State or Federal 

17 unemployment compensation law administered by 

18 the State agency or under any other Federal law ad19 ministered by the State agency which provides for 

20 the payment of any assistance or allowance with re21 spect to any week of unemployment, during the 3- 

22 year period after the date such individuals received 

23 the payment of the emergency unemployment com24 pensation to which they were not entitled, except 

25 that no single deduction may exceed 50 percent of 


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1 the weekly benefit amount from which such deduc2 tion is made. 

3 (2) OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.—No repay4 ment shall be required, and no deduction shall be 

5 made, until a determination has been made, notice 

6 thereof and an opportunity for a fair hearing has 

7 been given to the individual, and the determination 

8 has become final. 

9 (d) REVIEW.—Any determination by a State agency 

10 under this section shall be subject to review in the same 

11 manner and to the same extent as determinations under 

12 the State unemployment compensation law, and only in 

13 that manner and to that extent. 

14 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act, the terms ‘‘compensation’’, ‘‘regular com16 pensation’’, ‘‘extended compensation’’, ‘‘additional com17 pensation’’, ‘‘benefit year’’, ‘‘base period’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘State 

18 agency’’, ‘‘State law’’, and ‘‘week’’ have the respective 

19 meanings given such terms under section 205 of the Fed20 eral-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 

21 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note). 

22 SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

24 (b), an agreement entered into under this Act shall apply 

25 to weeks of unemployment— 


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1 (1) beginning after the date on which such 

2 agreement is entered into; and 

3 (2) ending on or before February 1, 2009. 

4 (b) TRANSITION FOR AMOUNT REMAINING IN AC5 COUNT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

7 and (3), in the case of an individual who has 

8 amounts remaining in an account established under 

9 section 3 as of the last day of the last week (as de10 termined in accordance with the applicable State 

11 law) ending on or before February 1, 2009, emer12 gency unemployment compensation shall continue to 

13 be payable to such individual from such amounts for 

14 any week beginning after such last day for which the 

15 individual meets the eligibility requirements of this 

16 Act. 

17 (2) LIMIT ON AUGMENTATION.—If the account 

18 of an individual is exhausted after the last day of 

19 such last week (as so determined), then section 3(c) 

20 shall not apply and such account shall not be aug21 mented under such section, regardless of whether 

22 such individual’s State is in an extended benefit pe23 riod (as determined under paragraph (2) of such 

24 section). 


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1 (3) LIMIT ON COMPENSATION.—No compensa2 tion shall be payable by reason of paragraph (1) for 

3 any week beginning after April 30, 2009. 

Æ 


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