IB 

Union Calendar No. 378 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5749 

[Report No. 110–607] 

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 

APRIL 24, 2008 

Additional sponsors: Mr. RANGEL, Mr. PORTER, Mr. STARK, Mr. YOUNG of 

Alaska, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, 

Mr. MCCOTTER, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Mr. NADLER, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. FARR, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. KIND, 

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. LOBIONDO, 

Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. 

SHERMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Ms. WATSON, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. ANDREWS, and Ms. 

LEE

APRIL 24, 2008 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 


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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 9, 2008] 

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 of 

6 2008’’. 

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

8 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. 

Sec. 6. Fraud and overpayments. 

Sec. 7. Definitions. 

Sec. 8. Applicability. 

9 SEC. 2. FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS. 

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

11 may enter into and participate in an agreement under this 

12 Act with the Secretary of Labor (in this Act referred to as 

13 the ‘‘Secretary’’). Any State which is a party to an agree14 ment under this Act may, upon providing 30 days’ written 

15 notice to the Secretary, terminate such agreement. 


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1 (b) PROVISIONS OF AGREEMENT.—Any agreement 

2 under subsection (a) shall provide that the State agency of 

3 the State will make payments of emergency unemployment 

4 compensation to individuals who— 

5 (1) have exhausted all rights to regular com6 pensation under the State law or under Federal law 

7 with respect to a benefit year (excluding any benefit 

8 year that ended before May 1, 2007); 

9 (2) have no rights to regular compensation or ex10 tended compensation with respect to a week under 

11 such law or any other State unemployment compensa12 tion law or to compensation under any other Federal 

13 law (except as provided under subsection (e)); and 

14 (3) are not receiving compensation with respect 

15 to such week under the unemployment compensation 

16 law of Canada. 

17 (c) EXHAUSTION OF BENEFITS.—For purposes of sub18 section (b)(1), an individual shall be deemed to have ex19 hausted such individual’s rights to regular compensation 

20 under a State law when— 

21 (1) no payments of regular compensation can be 

22 made under such law because such individual has re23 ceived all regular compensation available to such in24 dividual based on employment or wages during such 

25 individual’s base period; or 


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1 (2) such individual’s rights to such compensation 

2 have been terminated by reason of the expiration of 

3 the benefit year with respect to which such rights ex4 isted. 

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

6 of any agreement under this Act— 

7 (1) the amount of emergency unemployment 

8 compensation which shall be payable to any indi9 vidual for any week of total unemployment shall be 

10 equal to the amount of the regular compensation (in11 cluding dependents’ allowances) payable to such indi12 vidual during such individual’s benefit year under 

13 the State law for a week of total unemployment; 

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

15 which apply to claims for regular compensation and 

16 to the payment thereof shall apply to claims for emer17 gency unemployment compensation and the payment 

18 thereof, except where otherwise inconsistent with the 

19 provisions of this Act or with the regulations or oper20 ating instructions of the Secretary promulgated to 

21 carry out this Act; and 

22 (3) the maximum amount of emergency unem23 ployment compensation payable to any individual for 

24 whom an emergency unemployment compensation ac25 count is established under section 3 shall not exceed 


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1 the amount established in such account for such indi2 vidual. 

3 (e) ELECTION BY STATES.—Notwithstanding any 

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

5 the Governor of a State that is in an extended benefit period 

6 may provide for the payment of emergency unemployment 

7 compensation prior to extended compensation to individ8 uals who otherwise meet the requirements of this section. 

9 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION AC10 COUNT. 

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

12 provide that the State will establish, for each eligible indi13 vidual who files an application for emergency unemploy14 ment compensation, an emergency unemployment com15 pensation account with respect to such individual’s benefit 

16 year. 

17 (b) AMOUNT IN ACCOUNT.— 

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

19 account under subsection (a) shall be equal to the less20 er 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 of 

4 this subsection, an individual’s weekly benefit amount 

5 for any week is the amount of regular compensation 

6 (including dependents’ allowances) under the State 

7 law payable to such individual for such week for total 

8 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 benefit 

14 period (as determined under paragraph (2)), then, 

15 such account shall be augmented by an amount equal 

16 to the amount originally established in such account 

17 (as determined under subsection (b)(1)). 

18 (2) EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD.—For purposes 

19 of paragraph (1), a State shall be considered to be in 

20 an extended benefit period, as of any given time, if— 

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

22 State under the Federal-State Extended Unem23 ployment Compensation Act of 1970; 


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

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

3 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 for 

9 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’’ or ‘‘6.5’’ in paragraph (1)(A)(i); 

17 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 unemployVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:08 Apr 25, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5749.RH H5749

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1 ment compensation paid to individuals by the State pursu2 ant 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 extent 

11 the State is entitled to reimbursement under this Act in 

12 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 cal19 endar month, reduced or increased, as the case may be, by 

20 any amount by which the Secretary finds that the Sec21 retary’s estimates for any prior calendar month were great22 er or less than the amounts which should have been paid 

23 to the State. Such estimates may be made on the basis of 

24 such statistical, sampling, or other method as may be agreed 


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

2 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))) of 

7 the Unemployment Trust Fund (as established by section 

8 904(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1104(a))) shall be used for 

9 the making of payments to States having agreements en10 tered into under this Act. 

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

12 time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment 

13 to each State the sums payable to such State under this 

14 Act. The Secretary of the Treasury, prior to audit or settle15 ment by the Government Accountability Office, shall make 

16 payments to the State in accordance with such certification, 

17 by transfers from the extended unemployment compensation 

18 account (as so established) to the account of such State in 

19 the Unemployment Trust Fund (as so established). 

20 (c) ASSISTANCE TO STATES.—There are appropriated 

21 out of the employment security administration account (as 

22 established by section 901(a) of the Social Security Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 1101(a))) of the Unemployment Trust Fund, with24 out fiscal year limitation, such funds as may be necessary 

25 for purposes of assisting States (as provided in title III of 


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1 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 et seq.)) in meeting 

2 the costs of administration of agreements under this Act. 

3 (d) APPROPRIATIONS FOR CERTAIN PAYMENTS.— 

4 There are appropriated from the general fund of the Treas5 ury, without fiscal year limitation, to the extended unem6 ployment compensation account (as so established) of the 

7 Unemployment Trust Fund (as so established) such sums 

8 as the Secretary estimates to be necessary to make the pay9 ments under this section in respect of— 

10 (1) compensation payable under chapter 85 of 

11 title 5, United States Code; and 

12 (2) compensation payable on the basis of services 

13 to which section 3309(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue 

14 Code of 1986 applies. 

15 Amounts appropriated pursuant to the preceding sentence 

16 shall not be required to be repaid. 

17 SEC. 6. FRAUD AND OVERPAYMENTS. 

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

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

20 or representation of a material fact, or knowingly has 

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

22 and as a result of such false statement or representation 

23 or of such nondisclosure such individual has received an 

24 amount of emergency unemployment compensation under 

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


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1 (1) shall be ineligible for further emergency un2 employment compensation under this Act in accord3 ance with the provisions of the applicable State un4 employment compensation law relating to fraud in 

5 connection with a claim for unemployment compensa6 tion; and 

7 (2) shall be subject to prosecution under section 

8 1001 of title 18, United States Code. 

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

10 received amounts of emergency unemployment compensa11 tion under this Act to which they were not entitled, the 

12 State shall require such individuals to repay the amounts 

13 of such emergency unemployment compensation to the State 

14 agency, except that the State agency may waive such repay15 ment if it determines that— 

16 (1) the payment of such emergency unemploy17 ment compensation was without fault on the part of 

18 any such individual; and 

19 (2) such repayment would be contrary to equity 

20 and good conscience. 

21 (c) RECOVERY BY STATE AGENCY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State agency may recover 

23 the amount to be repaid, or any part thereof, by de24 ductions from any emergency unemployment com25 pensation payable to such individual under this Act 


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1 or from any unemployment compensation payable to 

2 such individual under any State or Federal unem3 ployment compensation law administered by the 

4 State agency or under any other Federal law admin5 istered by the State agency which provides for the 

6 payment of any assistance or allowance with respect 

7 to any week of unemployment, during the 3-year pe8 riod after the date such individuals received the pay9 ment of the emergency unemployment compensation 

10 to which they were not entitled, except that no single 

11 deduction may exceed 50 percent of the weekly benefit 

12 amount from which such deduction is made. 

13 (2) OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.—No repayment 

14 shall be required, and no deduction shall be made, 

15 until a determination has been made, notice thereof 

16 and an opportunity for a fair hearing has been given 

17 to the individual, and the determination has become 

18 final. 

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

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

21 manner and to the same extent as determinations under 

22 the State unemployment compensation law, and only in 

23 that manner and to that extent. 


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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act, the terms ‘‘compensation’’, ‘‘regular com3 pensation’’, ‘‘extended compensation’’, ‘‘additional com4 pensation’’, ‘‘benefit year’’, ‘‘base period’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘State 

5 agency’’, ‘‘State law’’, and ‘‘week’’ have the respective mean6 ings given such terms under section 205 of the Federal-State 

7 Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 

8 U.S.C. 3304 note). 

9 SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY. 

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

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

12 to weeks of unemployment— 

13 (1) beginning after the date on which such agree14 ment is entered into; and 

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

16 (b) TRANSITION FOR AMOUNT REMAINING IN AC17 COUNT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) and 

19 (3), in the case of an individual who has amounts re20 maining in an account established under section 3 as 

21 of the last day of the last week (as determined in ac22 cordance with the applicable State law) ending on or 

23 before February 1, 2009, emergency unemployment 

24 compensation shall continue to be payable to such in25 dividual from such amounts for any week beginning 


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1 after such last day for which the individual meets the 

2 eligibility requirements of this Act. 

3 (2) LIMIT ON AUGMENTATION.—If the account of 

4 an individual is exhausted after the last day of such 

5 last week (as so determined), then section 3(c) shall 

6 not apply and such account shall not be augmented 

7 under such section, regardless of whether such indi8 vidual’s State is in an extended benefit period (as de9 termined under paragraph (2) of such section). 

10 (3) LIMIT ON COMPENSATION.—No compensation 

11 shall be payable by reason of paragraph (1) for any 

12 week beginning after April 30, 2009. 


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Union Calendar No. 378 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5749 

[Report No. 110

–607] 

A BILL 

To provide for a program of emergency 

unemployment compensation. 

APRIL 24, 2008 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS