II 

Calendar No. 780 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5749 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 12, 2008 

Received and read the first time 

JUNE 13, 2008 

Considered to have been read a second time and placed on the calendar 

pursuant to the order of June 12, 2008 

AN ACT 

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 for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Federal-State agreements. 


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Sec. 3. Emergency unemployment compensation account. 

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

unemployment compensation. 

Sec. 5. Financing provisions. 

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 (except as provided under subsection 

21 (e)); and 


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1 (3) are not receiving compensation with respect 

2 to such week under the unemployment compensation 

3 law of Canada. 

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

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

6 exhausted such individual’s rights to regular compensation 

7 under a State law when— 

8 (1) no payments of regular compensation can 

9 be made under such law because such individual has 

10 received all regular compensation available to such 

11 individual based on employment or wages during 

12 such individual’s base period; or 

13 (2) such individual’s rights to such compensa14 tion have been terminated by reason of the expira15 tion of the benefit year with respect to which such 

16 rights existed. 

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

18 of any agreement under this Act— 

19 (1) the amount of emergency unemployment 

20 compensation which shall be payable to any indi21 vidual for any week of total unemployment shall be 

22 equal to the amount of the regular compensation 

23 (including dependents’ allowances) payable to such 

24 individual during such individual’s benefit year 


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1 under the State law for a week of total unemploy2 ment; 

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

4 which apply to claims for regular compensation and 

5 to the payment thereof shall apply to claims for 

6 emergency unemployment compensation and the 

7 payment thereof, except where otherwise inconsistent 

8 with the provisions of this Act or with the regula9 tions or operating instructions of the Secretary pro10 mulgated to carry out this Act; and 

11 (3) the maximum amount of emergency unem12 ployment compensation payable to any individual for 

13 whom an emergency unemployment compensation 

14 account is established under section 3 shall not ex15 ceed the amount established in such account for 

16 such individual. 

17 (e) ELECTION BY STATES.—Notwithstanding any 

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

19 the Governor of a State that is in an extended benefit pe20 riod may provide for the payment of emergency unemploy21 ment compensation prior to extended compensation to in22 dividuals who otherwise meet the requirements of this sec23 tion. 

24 (f) UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS INELIGIBLE.—A State 

25 shall require as a condition of eligibility for emergency unVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:17 Jun 13, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5749.PCS H5749

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1 employment compensation under this Act that each alien 

2 who receives such compensation must be legally authorized 

3 to work in the United States, as defined for purposes of 

4 the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (26 U.S.C. 3301 et 

5 seq.). In determining whether an alien meets the require6 ments of this subsection, a State must follow the proce7 dures provided in section 1137(d) of the Social Security 

8 Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–7(d)). 

9 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION AC10 COUNT. 

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

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

13 individual who files an application for emergency unem14 ployment compensation, an emergency unemployment 

15 compensation account with respect to such individual’s 

16 benefit year. 

17 (b) AMOUNT IN ACCOUNT.— 

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

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

20 lesser of— 

21 (A) 50 percent of the total amount of reg22 ular compensation (including dependents’ allow23 ances) payable to the individual during the indi24 vidual’s benefit year under such law, or 


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1 (B) 13 times the individual’s average week2 ly benefit amount for the benefit year. 

3 (2) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT.—For purposes 

4 of this subsection, an individual’s weekly benefit 

5 amount for any week is the amount of regular com6 pensation (including dependents’ allowances) under 

7 the State law payable to such individual for such 

8 week for total unemployment. 

9 (c) SPECIAL RULE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

11 provision of this section, if, at the time that the indi12 vidual’s account is exhausted or at any time there13 after, such individual’s State is in an extended ben14 efit period (as determined under paragraph (2)), 

15 then, such account shall be augmented by an 

16 amount equal to the amount originally established in 

17 such account (as determined under subsection 

18 (b)(1)). 

19 (2) EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD.—For pur20 poses of paragraph (1), a State shall be considered 

21 to be in an extended benefit period, as of any given 

22 time, if— 

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

24 State under the Federal-State Extended Unem25 ployment Compensation Act of 1970; 


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

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

3 of such Act— 

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

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

6 (ii) did not include the requirement 

7 under paragraph (1)(A); or 

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

9 for such State under such Act if— 

10 (i) section 203(f) of such Act were ap11 plied to such State (regardless of whether 

12 the State by law had provided for such ap13 plication); and 

14 (ii) such section 203(f)— 

15 (I) were applied by substituting 

16 ‘‘6.0’’ for ‘‘6.5’’ in paragraph 

17 (1)(A)(i); and 

18 (II) did not include the require19 ment under paragraph (1)(A)(ii). 

20 SEC. 4. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS FOR 

21 THE PAYMENT OF EMERGENCY UNEMPLOY22 MENT COMPENSATION. 

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

24 State that has entered into an agreement under this Act 

25 an amount equal to 100 percent of the emergency unemVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:17 Jun 13, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5749.PCS H5749

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1 ployment compensation paid to individuals by the State 

2 pursuant to such agreement. 

3 (b) TREATMENT OF REIMBURSABLE COMPENSA4 TION.—No payment shall be made to any State under this 

5 section in respect of any compensation to the extent the 

6 State is entitled to reimbursement in respect of such com7 pensation under the provisions of any Federal law other 

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

9 A State shall not be entitled to any reimbursement under 

10 such chapter 85 in respect of any compensation to the ex11 tent the State is entitled to reimbursement under this Act 

12 in respect of such compensation. 

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

14 any State by reason of such State having an agreement 

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

16 way of reimbursement (as may be determined by the Sec17 retary), in such amounts as the Secretary estimates the 

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

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

20 by any amount by which the Secretary finds that the Sec21 retary’s estimates for any prior calendar month were 

22 greater or less than the amounts which should have been 

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

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


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

2 the State involved. 

3 SEC. 5. FINANCING PROVISIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Funds in the extended unemploy5 ment compensation account (as established by section 

6 905(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1105(a))) 

7 of the Unemployment Trust Fund (as established by sec8 tion 904(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1104(a))) shall be used 

9 for the making of payments to States having agreements 

10 entered into under this Act. 

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

12 to time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for pay13 ment to each State the sums payable to such State under 

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

15 or settlement by the Government Accountability Office, 

16 shall make payments to the State in accordance with such 

17 certification, by transfers from the extended unemploy18 ment compensation account (as so established) to the ac19 count of such State in the Unemployment Trust Fund (as 

20 so established). 

21 (c) ASSISTANCE TO STATES.—There are appro22 priated out of the employment security administration ac23 count (as established by section 901(a) of the Social Secu24 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1101(a))) of the Unemployment Trust 

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


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1 be necessary for purposes of assisting States (as provided 

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

3 seq.)) in meeting the costs of administration of agree4 ments under this Act. 

5 (d) APPROPRIATIONS FOR CERTAIN PAYMENTS.— 

6 There are appropriated from the general fund of the 

7 Treasury, without fiscal year limitation, to the extended 

8 unemployment compensation account (as so established) 

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

10 sums as the Secretary estimates to be necessary to make 

11 the payments under this section in respect of— 

12 (1) compensation payable under chapter 85 of 

13 title 5, United States Code; and 

14 (2) compensation payable on the basis of serv15 ices to which section 3309(a)(1) of the Internal Rev16 enue Code of 1986 applies. 

17 Amounts appropriated pursuant to the preceding sentence 

18 shall not be required to be repaid. 

19 SEC. 6. FRAUD AND OVERPAYMENTS. 

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

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

22 or representation of a material fact, or knowingly has 

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

24 and as a result of such false statement or representation 

25 or of such nondisclosure such individual has received an 


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1 amount of emergency unemployment compensation under 

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

3 (1) shall be ineligible for further emergency un4 employment compensation under this Act in accord5 ance with the provisions of the applicable State un6 employment compensation law relating to fraud in 

7 connection with a claim for unemployment com8 pensation; and 

9 (2) shall be subject to prosecution under section 

10 1001 of title 18, United States Code. 

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

12 have received amounts of emergency unemployment com13 pensation under this Act to which they were not entitled, 

14 the State shall require such individuals to repay the 

15 amounts of such emergency unemployment compensation 

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

17 waive such repayment if it determines that— 

18 (1) the payment of such emergency unemploy19 ment compensation was without fault on the part of 

20 any such individual; and 

21 (2) such repayment would be contrary to equity 

22 and good conscience. 

23 (c) RECOVERY BY STATE AGENCY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State agency may re25 cover the amount to be repaid, or any part thereof, 


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1 by deductions from any emergency unemployment 

2 compensation payable to such individual under this 

3 Act or from any unemployment compensation pay4 able to such individual under any State or Federal 

5 unemployment compensation law administered by 

6 the State agency or under any other Federal law ad7 ministered by the State agency which provides for 

8 the payment of any assistance or allowance with re9 spect to any week of unemployment, during the 3- 

10 year period after the date such individuals received 

11 the payment of the emergency unemployment com12 pensation to which they were not entitled, except 

13 that no single deduction may exceed 50 percent of 

14 the weekly benefit amount from which such deduc15 tion is made. 

16 (2) OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.—No repay17 ment shall be required, and no deduction shall be 

18 made, until a determination has been made, notice 

19 thereof and an opportunity for a fair hearing has 

20 been given to the individual, and the determination 

21 has become final. 

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

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

24 manner and to the same extent as determinations under 


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1 the State unemployment compensation law, and only in 

2 that manner and to that extent. 

3 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act, the terms ‘‘compensation’’, ‘‘regular com5 pensation’’, ‘‘extended compensation’’, ‘‘benefit year’’, 

6 ‘‘base period’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘State agency’’, ‘‘State law’’, and 

7 ‘‘week’’ have the respective meanings given such terms 

8 under section 205 of the Federal-State Extended Unem9 ployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 

10 note). 

11 SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY. 

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

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

14 to weeks of unemployment— 

15 (1) beginning after the date on which such 

16 agreement is entered into; and 

17 (2) ending on or before March 31, 2009. 

18 (b) TRANSITION FOR AMOUNT REMAINING IN AC19 COUNT.— 

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

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

22 amounts remaining in an account established under 

23 section 3 as of the last day of the last week (as de24 termined in accordance with the applicable State 

25 law) ending on or before March 31, 2009, emergency 


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1 unemployment compensation shall continue to be 

2 payable to such individual from such amounts for 

3 any week beginning after such last day for which the 

4 individual meets the eligibility requirements of this 

5 Act. 

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

7 of an individual is exhausted after the last day of 

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

9 shall not apply and such account shall not be aug10 mented under such section, regardless of whether 

11 such individual’s State is in an extended benefit pe12 riod (as determined under paragraph (2) of such 

13 section). 

14 (3) LIMIT ON COMPENSATION.—No compensa15 tion shall be payable by reason of paragraph (1) for 

16 any week beginning after June 30, 2009. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 12, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 

By ROBERT F. REEVES, 

Deputy Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 780 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5749 

AN ACT 

To provide for a program of emergency 

unemployment compensation. 

JUNE 13, 2008 

on the calendar pursuant to the order of June 12, 2008 

Considered to have been read a second time and placed 


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