I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2731 

To amend title III of the Social Security Act to provide for demonstration 

projects designed to expedite the reemployment of unemployed workers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2011 

Mr. BERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend title III of the Social Security Act to provide 

for demonstration projects designed to expedite the reemployment of unemployed workers. 

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 ‘‘Helping Innovation 

5 of Re-Employment Services in States Act’’ or the ‘‘HIRES 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATE FLEXIBILITY TO PROMOTE THE REEMPLOY2 MENT OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Social Security 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 501 and following) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS

7 ‘‘SEC. 305. (a) The Secretary of Labor may enter 

8 into agreements, with States submitting an application de9 scribed in subsection (b), for the purpose of allowing such 

10 States to conduct demonstration projects to test and 

11 evaluate measures designed— 

12 ‘‘(1) to expedite the reemployment of individ13 uals who establish initial eligibility for unemploy14 ment compensation under the State law of such 

15 State; or 

16 ‘‘(2) to improve the effectiveness of a State in 

17 carrying out its State law with respect to reemploy18 ment. 

19 ‘‘(b) The Governor of any State desiring to conduct 

20 a demonstration project under this section shall submit 

21 an application to the Secretary of Labor. Any such appli22 cation shall, at a minimum, include— 

23 ‘‘(1) a general description of the proposed dem24 onstration project, including the authority (under 

25 the laws of the State) for the measures to be tested, 


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1 as well as the period of time during which such dem2 onstration project would be conducted; 

3 ‘‘(2) if a waiver under subsection (c) is re4 quested, the specific aspects of the project to which 

5 the waiver would apply and the reasons why such 

6 waiver is needed; 

7 ‘‘(3) a description of the goals and the expected 

8 programmatic outcomes of the demonstration 

9 project, including how the project would contribute 

10 to the objective described in subsection (a)(1), sub11 section (a)(2), or both; 

12 ‘‘(4) assurances (accompanied by supporting 

13 analysis) that the demonstration project would not 

14 result in any increased net costs to the State’s ac15 count in the Unemployment Trust Fund; 

16 ‘‘(5) a description of the manner in which the 

17 State— 

18 ‘‘(A) will conduct an impact evaluation, 

19 using a control or comparison group or other 

20 valid methodology, of the demonstration project; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) will determine the extent to which the 

23 goals and outcomes described in paragraph (3) 

24 were achieved; and 


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1 ‘‘(6) assurances that the State will provide any 

2 reports relating to the demonstration project, after 

3 its approval, as the Secretary of Labor may require. 

4 ‘‘(c) The Secretary of Labor may waive any of the 

5 requirements of section 3304(a)(4) of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986 or of paragraph (1) or (5) of section 

7 303(a), to the extent and for the period the Secretary of 

8 Labor considers necessary to enable the State to carry out 

9 a demonstration project under this section. 

10 ‘‘(d) A demonstration project under this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) may be commenced any time after the date 

12 of the enactment of this section; and 

13 ‘‘(2) may not be approved for a period of time 

14 greater than 3 years, subject to extension upon re15 quest of the Governor of the State involved for such 

16 additional period as the Secretary of Labor may 

17 agree to, except that in no event may a demonstra18 tion project under this section be conducted after 

19 the end of the 5-year period beginning on the date 

20 of the enactment of this section. 

21 ‘‘(e) The Secretary of Labor shall, in the case of any 

22 State for which an application is submitted under sub23 section (b)— 


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1 ‘‘(1) notify the State as to whether such appli2 cation has been approved or denied within 30 days 

3 after receipt of a complete application; and 

4 ‘‘(2) provide public notice of the decision within 

5 10 days after providing notification to the State in 

6 accordance with paragraph (1). 

7 Public notice under paragraph (2) may be provided 

8 through the Internet or other appropriate means. Any ap9 plication under this section that has not been denied with10 in such 30 days shall be deemed approved. 

11 ‘‘(f) The Secretary of Labor may terminate a dem12 onstration project under this section if the Secretary 

13 makes a final determination that the State has violated 

14 the substantive terms or conditions of the project.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

16 this section shall apply to weeks beginning after Sep17 tember 30, 2011. 

Æ 


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