I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4994
To provide for the payment or reimbursement by the Federal Government
of special unemployment assistance paid by States to individuals partici-
pating in qualified worker training programs, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 21, 2002
Mr. BALDACCI (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. LIPIN-
SKI, Mr. FRANK, Mr. STUPAK, and Mr. DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To provide for the payment or reimbursement by the Federal
Government of special unemployment assistance paid by
States to individuals participating in qualified worker
training programs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Skills and Training
Promotion Act’’.
SEC. 2. AGREEMENTS WITH STATES HAVING QUALIFIED
WORKER TRAINING PROGRAMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any State, the State unemploy-
ment compensation law of which is approved by the Sec-
retary of Labor (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the
‘‘Secretary’’) under section 3304 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, which desires to do so, may enter into and
participate in an agreement with the Secretary under this
Act, if such State law contains (as of the date such agree-
ment is entered into) a requirement that special unemploy-
ment assistance be payable to individuals participating in
a qualified worker training program, as described in sub-
section (b). Any State which is a party to an agreement
under this Act may, upon providing 30 days’ written no-
tice to the Secretary, terminate such agreement.
(b) QUALIFIED WORKER TRAINING PROGRAM.—For
purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘qualified worker training
program’’ means a program—
(1) under which individuals who meet the re-
quirements described in paragraph (3) are eligible to
receive special unemployment assistance while par-
ticipating in the program;
(2) under which the assistance described in
paragraph (1) is payable in the same amount, at the
same interval, on the same terms, and subject to the
same conditions, as regular compensation under the
State law, except that—
(A) State requirements relating to avail-
ability for work, active search for work, and re-
fusal to accept work are not applicable to such
individuals;
(B) assistance shall not be payable after
the end of the 12-month period following the
last day of the individual’s benefit year; and
(C) such individuals are considered to be
unemployed for the purposes of Federal and
State laws applicable to unemployment com-
pensation,
as long as such individuals meet the requirements
applicable under this subsection;
(3) under which individuals may receive the as-
sistance described in paragraph (1) if such
individuals—
(A)(i)(I) have exhausted all rights to reg-
ular compensation under the State law;
(II) have exhausted all rights to extended
compensation, or are not entitled thereto, be-
cause of the ending of their eligibility for ex-
tended compensation, in such State;
(ii) have no rights to compensation (includ-
ing both regular compensation and extended
compensation) with respect to a week under
such law or any other State unemployment
compensation law or to compensation under any
other Federal law;
(iii) are not receiving compensation with
respect to such week under the unemployment
compensation law of Canada or any other for-
eign country;
(B)(i) were terminated as a result of any
permanent closure of a plant or facility; or
(ii) are identified pursuant to a State
worker profiling system as individuals who—
(I) are long-term unemployed and
have limited opportunities for employment
or reemployment in the same or a similar
occupation in the area in which they re-
side;
(II) are otherwise unlikely to return
to their previous industry or occupation; or
(III) satisfy such other criteria as
may be established in or under the agree-
ment for purposes of this subclause; and
(C) are actively participating in training
activities approved by the State agency pre-
paring them for suitable reemployment; and
(4) which meets such other requirements as the
Secretary determines to be appropriate.
SEC. 3. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be paid to each State
which has entered into an agreement under this Act an
amount equal to the applicable percentage of the covered
costs of the qualified worker training program of such
State.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
(1) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—The term ‘‘ap-
plicable percentage’’, with respect to a State which
has entered into an agreement under this Act,
means—
(A) during each of the first 3 calendar
years beginning on the date on which such
agreement is entered into, 100 percent; and
(B) during each calendar year thereafter,
50 percent.
(2) COVERED
COSTS.—The term ‘‘covered
costs’’, with respect to a qualified worker training
program, means—
(A) the amount of special unemployment
assistance (as described in section 3(b)(1)) paid
under such program; and
(B) such amount as the Secretary deter-
mines to be necessary for the proper and effi-
cient administration of such program.
(c) METHOD OF PAYMENT.—Sums payable to any
State by reason of such State’s having an agreement
under this Act shall be payable, either in advance or by
way of reimbursement (as determined by the Secretary),
in such amounts as the Secretary estimates the State will
be entitled to receive under this Act for each calendar
month, reduced or increased, as the case may be, by any
amount by which the Secretary finds that the Secretary’s
estimates for any prior calendar month were greater or
less than the amounts which should have been paid to the
State. Such estimates may be made on the basis of such
statistical, sampling, or other method as may be agreed
upon by the Secretary and the State agency of the State
involved.
SEC. 4. FINANCING PROVISIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Payments to States under section
3 shall be made in accordance with this section.
(b) CERTIFICATIONS.—The Secretary shall from time
to time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for pay-
ment to each State the sums payable to such State under
this Act. The Secretary of the Treasury, prior to audit
or settlement by the General Accounting Office, shall
make payments to the State in accordance with such cer-
tification, by transfers from general funds in the Treasury
to—
(1) the account of such State in the Unemploy-
ment Trust Fund, to the extent that such payment
is allocable to costs described in section 3(b)(2)(A);
and
(2) such fund or other repository as may be
agreed upon by the Secretary and the State agency
of the State involved, to the extent that such pay-
ment is allocable to costs described in section
3(b)(2)(B).
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the terms ‘‘State’’, ‘‘State
law’’, ‘‘State agency’’, ‘‘regular compensation’’, ‘‘extended
compensation’’, ‘‘benefit year’’, and ‘‘week’’ shall have the
respective meanings assigned to them under section 205
of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensa-
tion Act of 1970.
SEC. 6. REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY OF LABOR.
The Secretary shall prepare and transmit to the Con-
gress on an annual basis a written report on the operation
of this Act, including—
(1) an assessment of this Act’s effectiveness
within those States having an agreement in effect
under this Act during the period covered by the re-
port;
(2) the name of any State whose request to
enter into an agreement under this Act was dis-
approved during the period covered by the report, in-
cluding the reasons for each such decision; and
(3) such other information as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
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