II 
Calendar No. 391 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1759 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 10, 2019 
Received 
DECEMBER 18, 2019 
Read the first time 
DECEMBER 19, 2019 
Read the second time and placed on the calendar 
AN ACT 
To amend title III of the Social Security Act to extend 
reemployment services and eligibility assessments to all 
claimants for unemployment benefits, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Building on Reemploy-
ment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for 
Workers Act’’ or the ‘‘BRIDGE for Workers Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Public 
Law 115–123) improved program accountability for 
effectively serving unemployed workers and made a 
significant new investment in reemployment services. 
(2) Research shows the longer workers are out 
of work, the harder it can be to maintain their skills, 
professional network, and stable home life. 
(3) Reemployment services give workers who 
might otherwise struggle to find new jobs the tools 
that they need to get back to work—such as individ-
ualized career counseling and job search help as well 
as local labor market information—and they can 
serve as an entry point to the workforce development 
system. 
(4) Reemployment services have been dem-
onstrated to reduce the number of weeks that pro-
gram participants receive unemployment benefits by 
improving their employment outcomes, including 
earnings. 
(5) Unemployment benefits replace less than 
half of working income, on average, so workers who 
find new jobs quickly suffer less financial hardship. 
(6) Combining targeted reemployment services 
with unemployment benefits helps keep people at-
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tached to the labor force who might otherwise be-
come discouraged and drop out. 
(7) The Congressional Budget Office estimates 
that, over time, investments in reemployment serv-
ices create savings for taxpayers and unemployment 
trust funds by reducing spending on unemployment 
benefits. 
(8) Many different types of workers can benefit 
from reemployment services. Reemployment services 
should be used to shorten the duration of unemploy-
ment for workers even if they are not projected to 
fully exhaust their unemployment benefits. 
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR REEMPLOYMENT SERVICES. 
Section 306(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
506(a)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘individuals referred to reem-
ployment services as described in section 303(j)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘claimants for unemployment com-
pensation, including claimants referred to reemploy-
ment services as described in section 303(j),’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘such individuals’’ and inserting 
‘‘such claimants’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 9, 2019. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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Calendar No. 391 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 1759 
AN ACT 
To amend title III of the Social Security Act to ex-
tend reemployment services and eligibility assess-
ments to all claimants for unemployment bene-
fits, and for other purposes. 
DECEMBER 19, 2019 
Read the second time and placed on the calendar 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:13 Dec 20, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
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