I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6746 
To require the Secretary of Labor to establish a program for providing 
portable benefits to eligible workers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2020 
Ms. DELBENE (for herself, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. KILMER) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Labor to establish a program 
for providing portable benefits to eligible workers, 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 ‘‘Emergency Benefits 
for Independent Workers Program Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Many independent workers and workers in 
alternative work arrangements, constituting a sizable 
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percentage of the workforce in the United States, do 
not have access to benefits and protections typically 
provided through traditional full-time employment. 
(2) Workers in alternative work arrangements 
include independent contractors, domestic workers, 
temporary workers, the self-employed, and others in 
contingent work arrangements. 
(3) According to a 2017 survey by the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics, workers in alternative work ar-
rangements as their primary form of occupation con-
stitute 10.1 percent of the labor force, roughly 
16,000,000 Americans. 
(4) In response to the global pandemic caused 
by the coronavirus, Congress created the temporary 
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program under 
title II of division A of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, 
and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136) 
to provide access to unemployment insurance to pre-
viously ineligible workers, such as gig workers, free-
lancers, and the self-employed. 
(5) The people of the United States should not 
need an Act of Congress to have access to essential 
benefits and protections during the next economic 
downturn. 
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SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CORONAVIRUS.—The term ‘‘coronavirus’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 506 of the 
Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supple-
mental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116– 
123). 
(2) ELIGIBLE WORK.—The term ‘‘eligible work’’ 
means any work performed for pay that is not in 
connection with traditional full-time employment. 
(3) ELIGIBLE
WORKER.—The term ‘‘eligible 
worker’’ means— 
(A) any worker who is not a permanent 
full-time employee of the parent entity hiring 
the worker for the eligible work, including any 
independent contractor, contract worker, self- 
employed individual, freelance worker, or tem-
porary worker; and 
(B) any worker not traditionally eligible 
for unemployment compensation under the law 
of the State, including such a worker who has 
been affected by the coronavirus. 
(4) PORTABLE BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘portable 
benefits’’— 
(A) means work-related benefits that are 
provided to eligible workers for eligible work in 
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United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern 
Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. 
(7) WORKER ADVOCATE NON-PROFIT ORGANI-
ZATION.—The term ‘‘worker advocate non-profit or-
ganization’’ means an entity— 
(A) that is an organization described in 
section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) 
of such Code; 
(B) for which all actions taken by the or-
ganization regarding providing benefits to work-
ers are for the sole purpose of maximizing bene-
fits to the workers; 
(C) that is independent from all business 
entities, organizations, corporations, or individ-
uals that would pursue any financial interest in 
conflict with that of the workers; and 
(D) that has a board of directors that 
holds a fiduciary duty to the workers with re-
spect to provision of the benefits. 
(8) WORK-RELATED
BENEFITS.—The term 
‘‘work-related benefits’’ means benefits of a type 
that are commonly provided to traditional full-time 
employees, such as workers’ compensation, paid 
leave, skills training, disability coverage, health in-
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surance coverage, retirement saving, income secu-
rity, and short-term saving. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PORTABLE BENEFITS PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) EMERGENCY PORTABLE BENEFITS PROGRAM 
ESTABLISHED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—By not later than June 1, 
2020, the Secretary, in consultation with the head of 
any other relevant Federal agency, shall award 
grants through allotments described in subsection 
(b), to States to— 
(A) assist in the technology modernization 
necessary for the expansion of unemployment 
insurance; and 
(B) support broad innovation and experi-
mentation with respect to portable benefits. 
(2) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant awarded 
under this paragraph shall be for not less than a 2- 
year period. 
(3) PARTNERSHIPS AUTHORIZED.—A State re-
ceiving an allotment under this Act may carry out 
the activities under the grant in partnership with a 
local government, labor organization, or worker ad-
vocate non-profit organization. 
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(b) FORMULA.—Each State’s allotment under this 
section shall bear the same relation to the amount avail-
able to carry out this section as the population of the State 
bears to the population of all States. 
(c) STATE REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) PLAN
AND
IMPLEMENTATION
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—A State that accepts an allotment under 
subsection (a) shall agree to— 
(A) submit a plan for the use of the allot-
ment, in accordance with the requirements of 
subsection (d), by not later than 90 days after 
receiving the allotment; and 
(B) fully implement the plan submitted 
under subparagraph (A) by not later than 2 
years after receiving the allotment. 
(2) RETURN OF FUNDS.—A State that does not 
wish to receive an allotment under this Act or does 
not submit a plan described in paragraph (1)(A) by 
the deadline required under such paragraph shall re-
turn the State’s allotment to the Secretary of Labor. 
(3) USE OF RETURNED FUNDS.—The Secretary 
of Labor shall use any funds returned under para-
graph (2) to provide supplemental allotments to the 
States that did submit a plan under paragraph (1), 
in the same manner as under subsection (b). 
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(d) USES OF FUNDS.— 
(1) USE OF FUNDS TO IMPROVE UNEMPLOY-
MENT
COMPENSATION
ADMINISTRATION.—A State 
receiving an allotment under this section shall use 
50 percent of the amount of such allotment for im-
proving the administration systems of its unemploy-
ment compensation law, including by taking such 
steps as may be necessary to ensure adequate re-
sources in periods of high demand and by modern-
izing the information technology infrastructure used 
for such administration. 
(2) USE
OF
FUNDS
TO
ESTABLISH
EXPERI-
MENTAL PORTABLE BENEFIT PROGRAMS.—A State 
receiving an allotment under this section shall use 
50 percent of the amount of such allotment for the 
design, implementation, and evaluation of new mod-
els or approaches for providing portable benefits to 
eligible workers, including— 
(A) innovative proposals for paid leave; 
(B) providing a job seeker’s allowance; 
(C) qualified health plans offered on the 
Exchanges established under section 1311 or 
1321 of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031); 
(D) retirement-related benefits; 
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(E) the long-term expansion of eligibility 
for unemployment compensation; and 
(F) other programs specific to local econo-
mies in the State. 
SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than September 30, 2022, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall evaluate the outcome 
of the allotments provided under section 4(a) and provide 
a report on such evaluation to Congress. Such report shall 
include an assessment of the impact of such allotments 
on the compensation of workers receiving portable benefits 
under section 4. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this section $500,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2021. 
(b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated under 
subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. 
Æ 
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