I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2370
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that no individual
shall be denied unemployment compensation solely on the basis of leaving
employment due to a reasonable fear of domestic violence.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 29, 1999
Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. FROST, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE
JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Ms. RIVERS, Ms. SLAUGHTER,
Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ,
Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. BONIOR, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Ms. CARSON, and
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
that no individual shall be denied unemployment com-
pensation solely on the basis of leaving employment due
to a reasonable fear of domestic violence.
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 ‘‘Domestic Violence Em-
ployment Security Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. REASONABLE FEAR OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AS
GOOD CAUSE FOR LEAVING EMPLOYMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 3304 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to approval
of State unemployment compensation laws) is amended by
striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (18), by redesig-
nating paragraph (19) as paragraph (20), and by insert-
ing after paragraph (18) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(19)(A) no individual shall be denied com-
pensation under such State law solely on the basis
of leaving employment due to reasonable fear of do-
mestic violence, and
‘‘(B) in making a determination under subpara-
graph (A) as to the reasonableness of an individual’s
fear, the State shall consider such factors as it con-
siders appropriate, such as—
‘‘(i) whether there were any alternatives
available to the individual besides leaving such
individual’s employment, and
‘‘(ii) whether such individual was advised
by a law enforcement officer or health care pro-
fessional to leave such individual’s employment;
and’’.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3306 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(u) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER AND HEALTH-
CARE
PROFESSIONAL.—For 
purposes 
of 
section
3304(a)(19)—
‘‘(1) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term
‘law enforcement officer’ means an officer of the
United States, a State, or a political subdivision of
a State, who is empowered by law to conduct inves-
tigations of, or make arrests because of, offenses
against the United States, a State, or a political
subdivision of a State.
‘‘(2) HEALTH-CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The term
‘health-care professional’ means a physician, a clin-
ical psychologist, and any other person providing di-
rect patient care, as determined by the Secretary of
Labor.’’.
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act
shall be considered to affect any requirements relating to
availability for work, active search for work, or refusal to
accept work.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply in the case of unemployment com-
pensation paid for weeks beginning after the end of the
2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of
this Act.
Æ