110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5749 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act 

4 of 2008’’. 

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

6 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. 

Sec. 6. Fraud and overpayments. 

Sec. 7. Definitions. 

Sec. 8. Applicability. 

7 SEC. 2. FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS. 

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

9 may enter into and participate in an agreement under this 

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

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

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

13 written notice to the Secretary, terminate such agreement. 

14 (b) PROVISIONS OF AGREEMENT.—Any agreement 

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

16 of the State will make payments of emergency unemploy17 ment compensation to individuals who— 

18 (1) have exhausted all rights to regular com19 pensation under the State law or under Federal law 

20 with respect to a benefit year (excluding any benefit 

21 year that ended before May 1, 2007); 
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1 (2) have no rights to regular compensation or 

2 extended compensation with respect to a week under 

3 such law or any other State unemployment com4 pensation law or to compensation under any other 

5 Federal law (except as provided under subsection 

6 (e)); and 

7 (3) are not receiving compensation with respect 

8 to such week under the unemployment compensation 

9 law of Canada. 

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

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

12 exhausted such individual’s rights to regular compensation 

13 under a State law when— 

14 (1) no payments of regular compensation can 

15 be made under such law because such individual has 

16 received all regular compensation available to such 

17 individual based on employment or wages during 

18 such individual’s base period; or 

19 (2) such individual’s rights to such compensa20 tion have been terminated by reason of the expira21 tion of the benefit year with respect to which such 

22 rights existed. 

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

24 of any agreement under this Act— 
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1 (1) the amount of emergency unemployment 

2 compensation which shall be payable to any indi3 vidual for any week of total unemployment shall be 

4 equal to the amount of the regular compensation 

5 (including dependents’ allowances) payable to such 

6 individual during such individual’s benefit year 

7 under the State law for a week of total unemploy8 ment; 

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

10 which apply to claims for regular compensation and 

11 to the payment thereof shall apply to claims for 

12 emergency unemployment compensation and the 

13 payment thereof, except where otherwise inconsistent 

14 with the provisions of this Act or with the regula15 tions or operating instructions of the Secretary pro16 mulgated to carry out this Act; and 

17 (3) the maximum amount of emergency unem18 ployment compensation payable to any individual for 

19 whom an emergency unemployment compensation 

20 account is established under section 3 shall not ex21 ceed the amount established in such account for 

22 such individual. 

23 (e) ELECTION BY STATES.—Notwithstanding any 

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

25 the Governor of a State that is in an extended benefit pe-
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1 riod may provide for the payment of emergency unemploy2 ment compensation prior to extended compensation to in3 dividuals who otherwise meet the requirements of this sec4 tion. 

5 (f) UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS INELIGIBLE.—A State 

6 shall require as a condition of eligibility for emergency un7 employment compensation under this Act that each alien 

8 who receives such compensation must be legally authorized 

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

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

11 seq.). In determining whether an alien meets the require12 ments of this subsection, a State must follow the proce13 dures provided in section 1137(d) of the Social Security 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–7(d)). 

15 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION AC16 COUNT. 

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

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

19 individual who files an application for emergency unem20 ployment compensation, an emergency unemployment 

21 compensation account with respect to such individual’s 

22 benefit year. 

23 (b) AMOUNT IN ACCOUNT.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount established in 

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

3 lesser of— 

4 (A) 50 percent of the total amount of reg5 ular compensation (including dependents’ allow6 ances) payable to the individual during the indi7 vidual’s benefit year under such law, or 

8 (B) 13 times the individual’s average week9 ly benefit amount for the benefit year. 

10 (2) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT.—For purposes 

11 of this subsection, an individual’s weekly benefit 

12 amount for any week is the amount of regular com13 pensation (including dependents’ allowances) under 

14 the State law payable to such individual for such 

15 week for total unemployment. 

16 (c) SPECIAL RULE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

18 provision of this section, if, at the time that the indi19 vidual’s account is exhausted or at any time there20 after, such individual’s State is in an extended ben21 efit period (as determined under paragraph (2)), 

22 then, such account shall be augmented by an 

23 amount equal to the amount originally established in 

24 such account (as determined under subsection 

25 (b)(1)). 
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1 (2) EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD.—For pur2 poses of paragraph (1), a State shall be considered 

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

4 time, if— 

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

6 State under the Federal-State Extended Unem7 ployment Compensation Act of 1970; 

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

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

10 of such Act— 

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

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

13 (ii) did not include the requirement 

14 under paragraph (1)(A); or 

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

16 for such State under such Act if— 

17 (i) section 203(f) of such Act were ap18 plied to such State (regardless of whether 

19 the State by law had provided for such ap20 plication); and 

21 (ii) such section 203(f)— 

22 (I) were applied by substituting 

23 ‘‘6.0’’ for ‘‘6.5’’ in paragraph 

24 (1)(A)(i); and 
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1 (II) did not include the require2 ment under paragraph (1)(A)(ii). 

3 SEC. 4. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS FOR 

4 THE PAYMENT OF EMERGENCY UNEMPLOY5 MENT COMPENSATION. 

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

7 State that has entered into an agreement under this Act 

8 an amount equal to 100 percent of the emergency unem9 ployment compensation paid to individuals by the State 

10 pursuant to such agreement. 

11 (b) TREATMENT OF REIMBURSABLE COMPENSA12 TION.—No payment shall be made to any State under this 

13 section in respect of any compensation to the extent the 

14 State is entitled to reimbursement in respect of such com15 pensation under the provisions of any Federal law other 

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

17 A State shall not be entitled to any reimbursement under 

18 such chapter 85 in respect of any compensation to the ex19 tent the State is entitled to reimbursement under this Act 

20 in respect of such compensation. 

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

22 any State by reason of such State having an agreement 

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

24 way of reimbursement (as may be determined by the Sec25 retary), in such amounts as the Secretary estimates the 
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1 State will be entitled to receive under this Act for each 

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

3 by any amount by which the Secretary finds that the Sec4 retary’s estimates for any prior calendar month were 

5 greater or less than the amounts which should have been 

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

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

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

9 the State involved. 

10 SEC. 5. FINANCING PROVISIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Funds in the extended unemploy12 ment compensation account (as established by section 

13 905(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1105(a))) 

14 of the Unemployment Trust Fund (as established by sec15 tion 904(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1104(a))) shall be used 

16 for the making of payments to States having agreements 

17 entered into under this Act. 

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

19 to time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for pay20 ment to each State the sums payable to such State under 

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

22 or settlement by the Government Accountability Office, 

23 shall make payments to the State in accordance with such 

24 certification, by transfers from the extended unemploy25 ment compensation account (as so established) to the ac-
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1 count of such State in the Unemployment Trust Fund (as 

2 so established). 

3 (c) ASSISTANCE TO STATES.—There are appro4 priated out of the employment security administration ac5 count (as established by section 901(a) of the Social Secu6 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1101(a))) of the Unemployment Trust 

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

8 be necessary for purposes of assisting States (as provided 

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

10 seq.)) in meeting the costs of administration of agree11 ments under this Act. 

12 (d) APPROPRIATIONS FOR CERTAIN PAYMENTS.— 

13 There are appropriated from the general fund of the 

14 Treasury, without fiscal year limitation, to the extended 

15 unemployment compensation account (as so established) 

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

17 sums as the Secretary estimates to be necessary to make 

18 the payments under this section in respect of— 

19 (1) compensation payable under chapter 85 of 

20 title 5, United States Code; and 

21 (2) compensation payable on the basis of serv22 ices to which section 3309(a)(1) of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986 applies. 

24 Amounts appropriated pursuant to the preceding sentence 

25 shall not be required to be repaid. 
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1 SEC. 6. FRAUD AND OVERPAYMENTS. 

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

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

4 or representation of a material fact, or knowingly has 

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

6 and as a result of such false statement or representation 

7 or of such nondisclosure such individual has received an 

8 amount of emergency unemployment compensation under 

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

10 (1) shall be ineligible for further emergency un11 employment compensation under this Act in accord12 ance with the provisions of the applicable State un13 employment compensation law relating to fraud in 

14 connection with a claim for unemployment com15 pensation; and 

16 (2) shall be subject to prosecution under section 

17 1001 of title 18, United States Code. 

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

19 have received amounts of emergency unemployment com20 pensation under this Act to which they were not entitled, 

21 the State shall require such individuals to repay the 

22 amounts of such emergency unemployment compensation 

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

24 waive such repayment if it determines that— 
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1 (1) the payment of such emergency unemploy2 ment compensation was without fault on the part of 

3 any such individual; and 

4 (2) such repayment would be contrary to equity 

5 and good conscience. 

6 (c) RECOVERY BY STATE AGENCY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State agency may re8 cover the amount to be repaid, or any part thereof, 

9 by deductions from any emergency unemployment 

10 compensation payable to such individual under this 

11 Act or from any unemployment compensation pay12 able to such individual under any State or Federal 

13 unemployment compensation law administered by 

14 the State agency or under any other Federal law ad15 ministered by the State agency which provides for 

16 the payment of any assistance or allowance with re17 spect to any week of unemployment, during the 3- 

18 year period after the date such individuals received 

19 the payment of the emergency unemployment com20 pensation to which they were not entitled, except 

21 that no single deduction may exceed 50 percent of 

22 the weekly benefit amount from which such deduc23 tion is made. 

24 (2) OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.—No repay25 ment shall be required, and no deduction shall be 
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1 made, until a determination has been made, notice 

2 thereof and an opportunity for a fair hearing has 

3 been given to the individual, and the determination 

4 has become final. 

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

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

7 manner and to the same extent as determinations under 

8 the State unemployment compensation law, and only in 

9 that manner and to that extent. 

10 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act, the terms ‘‘compensation’’, ‘‘regular com12 pensation’’, ‘‘extended compensation’’, ‘‘benefit year’’, 

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

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

15 under section 205 of the Federal-State Extended Unem16 ployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 

17 note). 

18 SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY. 

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

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

21 to weeks of unemployment— 

22 (1) beginning after the date on which such 

23 agreement is entered into; and 

24 (2) ending on or before March 31, 2009. 
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1 (b) TRANSITION FOR AMOUNT REMAINING IN AC2 COUNT.— 

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

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

5 amounts remaining in an account established under 

6 section 3 as of the last day of the last week (as de7 termined in accordance with the applicable State 

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

9 unemployment compensation shall continue to be 

10 payable to such individual from such amounts for 

11 any week beginning after such last day for which the 

12 individual meets the eligibility requirements of this 

13 Act. 

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

15 of an individual is exhausted after the last day of 

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

17 shall not apply and such account shall not be aug18 mented under such section, regardless of whether 

19 such individual’s State is in an extended benefit pe20 riod (as determined under paragraph (2) of such 

21 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 June 30, 2009. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 12, 2008. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5749 

AN ACT 

To provide for a program of emergency 

unemployment compensation.