I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3479 

To incentivize American workers to seek and accept jobs, to aid the economic 

recovery by converting Federal pandemic emergency unemployment compensation into back to work bonuses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2021 

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

on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To incentivize American workers to seek and accept jobs, 

to aid the economic recovery by converting Federal pandemic emergency unemployment compensation into back 

to work bonuses, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Back to Work Bonus 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BACK TO WORK BONUSES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2104(b) of the CARES 

8 Act (15 U.S.C. 9023(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para2 graph (5); and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(4) BACK-TO-WORK BONUSES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any agreement under 

7 this section may also provide that the State 

8 agency of the State may make a lump sum pay9 ment to each individual who— 

10 ‘‘(i) was eligible for Federal Pandemic 

11 Unemployment Compensation under para12 graph (1) for— 

13 ‘‘(I) any week beginning after the 

14 date of enactment of the Back to 

15 Work Bonus Act; and 

16 ‘‘(II) at least 4 weeks imme17 diately preceding the week under 

18 clause (I); 

19 ‘‘(ii) is no longer eligible for Federal 

20 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation 

21 under paragraph (1) (as determined by the 

22 State), as a result of earnings due to com23 mencing employment with an employer by 

24 whom the individual has not been em25 ployed during the preceding 6 months; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) as verified by the individual’s 

2 employer pursuant to subparagraph (E)— 

3 ‘‘(I) has been employed by a non4 governmental employer throughout 

5 the qualifying period; and 

6 ‘‘(II) remains employed with an 

7 intent to continue such employment. 

8 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—A payment made to an 

9 individual under this paragraph shall be paid in 

10 a lump sum $900. 

11 ‘‘(C) QUALIFYING PERIOD.—For purposes 

12 of this paragraph, the term ‘qualifying period’ 

13 means, with respect to an individual, a period— 

14 ‘‘(i) beginning on the date the indi15 vidual commenced employment as de16 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) extending at least 4 consecutive 

18 weeks from such date. 

19 ‘‘(D) DURATION.—A lump-sum payment 

20 may not be made to any individual under this 

21 paragraph with respect to a qualifying period 

22 beginning on or after August 14, 2021. 

23 ‘‘(E) EMPLOYER VERIFICATION REQUIRED

24 FOR LUMP-SUM PAYMENT.—Before making a 

25 lump-sum payment to an individual pursuant to 


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1 this paragraph, a State agency shall require 

2 verification from the individual’s employer— 

3 ‘‘(i) of the individual’s employment 

4 status; 

5 ‘‘(ii) of the wages paid to the indi6 vidual during the applicable qualifying pe7 riod; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) of the hours worked by the indi9 vidual during the qualifying period. 

10 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION.—A State may not pro11 vide more than 1 lump-sum payment under this 

12 paragraph to an individual. 

13 ‘‘(G) SPECIAL RULE.—A payment made 

14 pursuant to an agreement under this paragraph 

15 shall not be considered to violate the withdrawal 

16 requirements of section 303(a)(5) or section 

17 3304(a)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

18 1986.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2104 of 

20 the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9023) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsections (d) and (f), by inserting ‘‘, 

22 payments under subsection (b)(4)’’ after ‘‘Federal 

23 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation’’ each place 

24 it appears; and 

25 (2) in subsection (g)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe4 riod at the end inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) the purposes of the preceding provisions of 

7 this section, as such provisions apply with respect to 

8 payments under subsection (b)(4), shall be applied 

9 with respect to unemployment benefits described in 

10 subsection (i)(2) to the same extent and in the same 

11 manner as if those benefits were regular compensa12 tion.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. SUNSETTING FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT 

14 COMPENSATION. 

15 Section 2104(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the CARES Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 9023(b)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘Sep17 tember 6, 2021’’ and inserting ‘‘the date of enactment of 

18 the Back to Work Bonus Act’’. 

19 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING WORK SEARCH REQUIREMENTS. 

20 (a) MODIFYING PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSIST21 ANCE.—Section 2102(a)(3)(A)(ii)(I) of the CARES Act 

22 (15 U.S.C. 9021(a)(3)(A)(ii)(I)) is amended by striking 

23 items (aa) through (kk) and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(aa) the individual has an 

25 active infection with COVID–19; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the individual received 

2 an order from a physician to 

3 quarantine due to exposure to 

4 COVID–19; or 

5 ‘‘(cc) the individual is caring 

6 for a family member or a mem7 ber of the individual’s household 

8 described in items (aa) or (bb); 

9 or’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2102(c) 

11 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021(c)) is amended by— 

12 (1) inserting at the end of paragraph (6) the 

13 following: ‘‘A State shall require proof of active in14 fection or quarantine order required by subsection 

15 (a)(3)(A)(ii)(I).’’; and 

16 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 

17 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively. 

18 (c) MODIFYING PANDEMIC EMERGENCY UNEMPLOY19 MENT COMPENSATION.—Section 2107(a)(7) of the 

20 CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9025(a)(7)) is amended by strik21 ing subparagraph (B) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(B) FLEXIBILITY.— 

23 ‘‘(i) Notwithstanding the requirements 

24 under subparagraph (A) and paragraph 

25 (2)(D), a State may provide flexibility in 


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1 meeting such requirements in case of indi2 viduals unable to search for work be3 cause— 

4 ‘‘(I) the individual has an active 

5 infection with COVID–19; 

6 ‘‘(II) the individual received an 

7 order from a physician to quarantine 

8 due to exposure to COVID–19; or 

9 ‘‘(III) the individual is caring for 

10 a family member or a member of the 

11 individual’s household described in 

12 subclause (I) or (II). 

13 ‘‘(ii) Prior to providing flexibility 

14 under this subparagraph, a State shall re15 quire proof of active infection or quar16 antine order required by subclause (I) or 

17 (II).’’. 

Æ 


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