I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 444
To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish a Personal 
Reemployment Accounts grant program to assist Americans in returning 
to work. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 29, 2003
Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. MCKEON, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, 
Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. 
DEMINT, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. KELLER, Mr. 
WILSON
of South Carolina, Mr. KLINE, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. 
CUNNINGHAM, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. HAYES, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. 
NETHERCUTT, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. 
TIAHRT, and Mr. WOLF) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish 
a Personal Reemployment Accounts grant program to 
assist Americans in returning to work.
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 ‘‘Back to Work Incen-
tive Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO SUPPORT PERSONAL REEMPLOYMENT 
ACCOUNTS. 
Subtitle B of title I of the Workforce Investment Act 
of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2811 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after chapter 5 the following new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 5A—PERSONAL 
REEMPLOYMENT ACCOUNTS 
‘‘SEC. 135A. PURPOSES. 
‘‘The purposes of this chapter are to provide for the 
establishment of personal reemployment accounts for cer-
tain individuals identified as likely to exhaust their unem-
ployment compensation in order to—
‘‘(1) accelerate the reemployment of such indi-
viduals; 
‘‘(2) promote the retention in employment of 
such individuals; and 
‘‘(3) provide such individuals with enhanced 
flexibility, choice, and control in obtaining intensive 
reemployment, training, and supportive services. 
‘‘SEC. 135B. DEFINITION. 
‘‘In this chapter, the term ‘State’ means each of the 
several States of the United States, the District of Colum-
bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the United 
States Virgin Islands. 
‘‘SEC. 135C. GRANTS TO STATES. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall—
‘‘(1) reserve 2⁄10 of 1 percent of the amount ap-
propriated under section 137(d) for use under sec-
tion 135I; and 
‘‘(2) use the remainder of the amount appro-
priated under section 137(d) to make allotments in 
accordance with subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) ALLOTMENT AMONG STATES.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—From the amount made 
available under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall 
allot to each State an amount that is proportionate 
to the relative number of unemployed individuals in 
the State as compared to the total number of unem-
ployed individuals in all States in order to provide 
assistance for eligible individuals in accordance with 
this chapter. 
‘‘(2) SMALL
STATE
MINIMUM
ALLOTMENT.—
The Secretary shall ensure that—
‘‘(A) each State (other than the United 
States Virgin Islands) shall receive an allotment 
under paragraph (1) that is not less than 3⁄10 
of 1 percent of the amount made available 
under subsection (a)(2) for the fiscal year; and 
‘‘(B) the United States Virgin Islands shall 
receive an allotment under paragraph (1) that 
is not less than 1⁄10 of 1 percent of the amount
made available under subsection (a)(2) for the 
fiscal year. 
‘‘(c) 
AVAILABILITY.—Notwithstanding 
section 
189(g)(1), amounts made available under subsection (a) 
to carry out this chapter shall be available for obligation 
and expenditure beginning on the date of the enactment 
of the Back to Work Incentive Act of 2003. 
‘‘SEC. 135D. WITHIN STATE ALLOCATION. 
‘‘(a) ALLOCATION.—Of the amount allotted to a 
State under section 135C—
‘‘(1) not more than 2 percent of the amount 
may be reserved by the Governor of the State to en-
hance the system of worker profiling described in 
section 303(j) of the Social Security Act and to es-
tablish and operate a data management system, as 
necessary, and carry out other appropriate activities 
to implement this chapter; 
‘‘(2) 5 percent of the amount shall be allocated 
by the State to local areas in accordance with the 
formula described in subsection (b) for start-up 
costs and other operating costs related to the provi-
sion of assistance under this chapter; and 
‘‘(3) the remainder of the amount shall be pro-
vided to local areas for the establishment of personal
reemployment accounts described in section 135E 
for eligible individuals in such local areas. 
‘‘(b) FORMULA.—A State shall allocate funds to local 
areas in the State under subsection (a)(2) in an amount 
that is proportionate to the relative number of unemployed 
individuals in the local area as compared to the total num-
ber of unemployed individuals in the State. 
‘‘(c) 
AVAILABILITY.—Notwithstanding 
section 
189(g)(2), amounts allotted to a State under section 
135C, and amounts subsequently provided to a local area 
under this section, shall be available for obligation and ex-
penditure only for the 3-year period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of the Back to Work Incentive Act of 
2003. 
‘‘SEC. 135E. PERSONAL REEMPLOYMENT ACCOUNTS. 
‘‘(a) ACCOUNTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Funds provided to a local 
area under section 135D shall be used to provide eli-
gible individuals with personal reemployment ac-
counts to be used in accordance with section 135F. 
An eligible individual may receive only one personal 
reemployment account. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The State shall establish the 
amount of a personal reemployment account, which
shall be uniform throughout the State, and shall not 
exceed $3,000. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish 
eligibility criteria for individuals for personal reem-
ployment accounts in accordance with this sub-
section. 
‘‘(2) MINIMUM ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA REQUIRE-
MENTS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), an individual shall be eligible to re-
ceive assistance under this chapter if, beginning 
after the date of enactment of the Back to 
Work Incentive Act of 2003, the individual— 
‘‘(i) is identified by the State pursu-
ant to section 303(j)(1) of the Social Secu-
rity Act as likely to exhaust regular unem-
ployment compensation and in need of job 
search assistance to make a successful 
transition to new employment; 
‘‘(ii) is receiving regular unemploy-
ment compensation under any State or 
Federal unemployment compensation pro-
gram administered by the State; and
‘‘(iii) is eligible for not less than 20 
weeks for the regular unemployment com-
pensation described in clause (ii). 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY AND PRI-
ORITY CRITERIA.—A State may establish cri-
teria that is in addition to the criteria described 
in subparagraph (A) for the eligibility of indi-
viduals to receive assistance under this chapter. 
A State may also establish criteria for priority 
in the provision of assistance to such eligible in-
dividuals under this chapter. 
‘‘(3) TRANSITION RULE.—
‘‘(A) PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED AS LIKELY 
TO
EXHAUST
UNEMPLOYMENT
COMPENSA-
TION.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At the option of 
the State, and subject to clause (ii), an in-
dividual may be eligible to receive assist-
ance under this chapter if the individual—
‘‘(I) during the 90-day period 
ending on the date of the enactment 
of the Back to Work Incentive Act of 
2003, was identified by the State pur-
suant to section 303(j)(1) of the So-
cial Security Act as likely to exhaust
regular unemployment compensation 
and in need of job search assistance 
to make a successful transition to new 
employment; and 
‘‘(II) otherwise meets the re-
quirements of clauses (ii) and (iii) of 
paragraph (2)(A). 
‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL
ELIGIBILITY
AND 
PRIORITY CRITERIA.—A State may estab-
lish criteria that is in addition to the cri-
teria described in clause (i) for the eligi-
bility of individuals to receive assistance 
under this chapter. A State may also es-
tablish criteria for priority in the provision 
of assistance to such eligible individuals 
under this chapter. 
‘‘(B) PREVIOUSLY
EXHAUSTED
UNEM-
PLOYMENT COMPENSATION.—At the option of 
the State, an individual may be eligible to re-
ceive assistance under this chapter if the indi-
vidual—
‘‘(i) during the 90-day period ending 
on the date of the enactment of the Back 
to Work Incentive Act of 2003, exhausted
all rights to any unemployment compensa-
tion; and 
‘‘(ii)(I) is enrolled in training and 
needs additional support to complete such 
training, with a priority of service to be 
provided to such individuals who are train-
ing for shortage occupations or high-
growth industries; or 
‘‘(II) is separated from employment in 
an industry or occupation that has experi-
enced declining employment, or no longer 
provides any employment, in the local labor 
market during the two-year period ending 
on the date of the determination of eligi-
bility of the individual under this subpara-
graph. 
‘‘(4) NO INDIVIDUAL ENTITLEMENT.—Nothing 
in this chapter shall be construed to entitle any indi-
vidual to receive a personal reemployment account. 
‘‘(c) LOCAL ADMINISTRATION.—
‘‘(1) INFORMATION AND ATTESTATION.—Prior 
to the establishment of a personal reemployment ac-
count for an eligible individual under this chapter, 
the one-stop delivery system shall ensure that the in-
dividual—
‘‘(A) is informed of the requirements appli-
cable to the personal reemployment account, in-
cluding the allowable uses of funds from the ac-
count, the limitations on access to services de-
scribed under section 135F(a)(3)(C) and a de-
scription of such services, and the conditions for 
receiving a reemployment bonus; 
‘‘(B) has the option to develop a personal 
reemployment plan which will identify the em-
ployment goals and appropriate combination of 
services selected by the individual to achieve the 
employment goals; and 
‘‘(C) signs an attestation that the indi-
vidual will comply with the requirements relat-
ing to the personal reemployment accounts 
under this chapter and will reimburse the ac-
count or, if the account has been terminated, 
the program under this chapter, for any 
amounts expended from the account that are 
not allowable. 
‘‘(2) PERIODIC INTERVIEWS.—If a recipient ex-
hausts his or her rights to any unemployment com-
pensation, and the recipient has a remaining balance 
in his or her personal reemployment account, the 
one-stop delivery system shall conduct periodic inter-
views with the recipient to assist the recipient in 
meeting his or her individual employment goals. 
‘‘SEC. 135F. USE OF FUNDS. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to the require-
ments contained in paragraphs (2) and (3), a recipi-
ent may use amounts in a personal reemployment 
account to purchase one or more of the following: 
‘‘(A) Intensive services, including those 
types 
of 
services 
specified 
in 
section 
134(d)(3)(C). 
‘‘(B) Training services, including those 
types 
of 
services 
specified 
in 
section 
134(d)(4)(D). 
‘‘(C) Supportive services, except for needs-
related payments. 
‘‘(D) Assistance to purchase or lease an 
automobile, if such assistance is necessary to 
allow the recipient to accept a bona fide offer 
of employment for which there is a reasonable 
expectation of long-term duration. 
‘‘(2) DELIVERY OF SERVICES.—The following 
requirements relating to delivery of services shall 
apply to the program under this chapter:
‘‘(A) Recipients may use funds from the 
personal reemployment account to purchase the 
services described in paragraph (1) through the 
one-stop delivery system on a fee-for-service 
basis, or through other providers, consistent 
with safeguards described in the State plan 
under section 135G. 
‘‘(B) The one-stop delivery system may 
pay costs for such services directly on behalf of 
the recipient, through a voucher system, or by 
reimbursement to the recipient upon receipt of 
appropriate cost documentation, consistent with 
safeguards described in the State plan under 
section 135G. 
‘‘(C) Each one-stop delivery system shall 
make available to recipients information on 
training 
providers 
specified 
in 
section 
134(d)(4)(F)(ii), information available to the 
one-stop delivery system on providers of the in-
tensive and supportive services described in 
paragraph (1), and information relating to oc-
cupations in demand in the local area. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—The following limitations 
shall apply with respect to personal reemployment 
accounts under this chapter:
‘‘(A)(i) Amounts in a personal reemploy-
ment account may be used for up to one year 
from the date of the establishment of the ac-
count. 
‘‘(ii) No personal reemployment account 
may be established beginning 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of the Back to Work In-
centive Act of 2003. 
‘‘(B) Each recipient shall submit cost doc-
umentation as required by the one-stop delivery 
system. 
‘‘(C) For the 1-year period following the 
establishment of the account, recipients may 
not receive intensive, supportive, or training 
services funded under this title except on a fee-
for-services basis as specified in paragraph 
(2)(A). 
‘‘(D) Amounts in a personal reemployment 
account shall be nontransferable. 
‘‘(b) INCOME SUPPORT.—A State may authorize re-
cipients determined eligible under section 135E(b)(3)(B) 
to withdraw amounts from the personal reemployment ac-
count on a weekly basis for purposes of income support 
in amounts up to the average weekly amount of unemploy-
ment compensation that the individual received prior to
his or her exhaustion of rights to unemployment com-
pensation if the individual is engaged in job search, inten-
sive services, or training that is expected to lead to em-
ployment. 
‘‘(c) REEMPLOYMENT BONUS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2)—
‘‘(A) if a recipient determined eligible 
under section 135E(b)(2) obtains full-time em-
ployment before the end of the 13th week of 
unemployment for which unemployment com-
pensation is paid, the balance of his or her per-
sonal reemployment account shall be provided 
directly to the recipient in cash; and 
‘‘(B) if a recipient determined eligible 
under section 135E(b)(3) obtains full-time em-
ployment before the end of the 13th week after 
the date on which the account is established, 
the balance of his or her personal reemployment 
account shall be provided directly to the recipi-
ent in cash. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—The following limitations 
shall apply with respect to a recipient described in 
paragraph (1):
‘‘(A) 60 percent of the remaining personal 
reemployment account balance shall be paid to 
the recipient at the time of reemployment. 
‘‘(B) 40 percent of the remaining personal 
reemployment account balance shall be paid to 
the recipient not later than 6 months after the 
date of reemployment. 
‘‘(3) EXCEPTION REGARDING SUBSEQUENT UN-
EMPLOYMENT.—If a recipient described in para-
graph (1) subsequently becomes unemployed due to 
a lack of work after receiving the portion of the re-
employment bonus specified under paragraph (2)(A), 
the individual may use the amount remaining in the 
personal reemployment account for the purposes de-
scribed in subsection (a) but may not be eligible for 
additional cash payments under this subsection. 
‘‘SEC. 135G. STATE PLAN. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order for a State to receive 
an allotment under section 135C, the Governor of the 
State shall submit to the Secretary a plan that includes 
a description of how the State intends to carry out the 
personal reemployment accounts authorized under this 
chapter, including—
‘‘(1) the criteria and methods to be used for de-
termining eligibility for the personal reemployment
accounts, including whether the State intends to in-
clude the optional categories described in section 
135E(b)(3), and the additional criteria and priority 
for service that the State intends to apply, if any, 
pursuant to section 135E(b)(2)(B); 
‘‘(2) the methods or procedures, developed in 
consultation with local boards and chief elected offi-
cials, to be used to provide eligible individuals infor-
mation relating to services and providers, and safe-
guards, developed in consultation with such boards 
and officials, to ensure that funds from the personal 
reemployment accounts are used for purposes au-
thorized under this chapter and are not used for 
services or providers that are wholly unreasonable or 
egregious; 
‘‘(3) how the State will coordinate the activities 
carried out under this chapter with the employment 
and training activities carried out under section 134 
and other activities carried out through the one-stop 
delivery system in the State. 
‘‘(b) PLAN SUBMISSION AND APPROVAL.—A State 
plan submitted to the Secretary under subsection (a) by 
a Governor shall be considered to be approved by the Sec-
retary at the end of the 30-day period beginning on the 
date the Secretary receives the plan, unless the Secretary
makes a written determination during such period that the 
plan is incomplete or otherwise inconsistent with the provi-
sions of this chapter. 
‘‘SEC. 135H. PROGRAM INFORMATION. 
‘‘The Secretary may require from States the collec-
tion and reporting on such financial, performance, and 
other program-related information as the Secretary deter-
mines is appropriate to carry out this chapter, including 
the evaluation described in section 135I. 
‘‘SEC. 135I. EVALUATION. 
‘‘(a) EVALUATION.—From the amount made avail-
able under section 135C(a)(1), the Secretary, pursuant to 
the authority provided under section 172, shall, directly 
or through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements 
with appropriate entities, conduct an evaluation of the ac-
tivities carried out under this chapter. 
‘‘(b) CONDUCT
OF EVALUATION.—The evaluation 
shall examine the effectiveness of such activities in achiev-
ing the purposes described in section 135A and such other 
purposes as the Secretary determines are appropriate. 
‘‘(c) REPORT.—The report to Congress under section 
172(e) relating to the results of the evaluations required 
under section 172 shall include the recommendation of the 
Secretary with respect to the use of personal reemploy-
ment accounts as a mechanism to assist individuals in ob-
taining and retaining employment.’’. 
SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION. 
Section 117(d) of the Workforce Investment Act of 
1998 (29 U.S.C. 2832(d)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (3)(B)(i)(I), by striking ‘‘sec-
tions 128 and 133’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 128, 
133, and 135D’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, activities 
authorized under section 135F’’ after ‘‘section 134’’. 
SEC. 4. DELIVERY OF SERVICES. 
Section 134(c)(1) of the Workforce Investment Act 
of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(c)(1)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(F) shall provide access to personal reemployment 
accounts in accordance to section 135E.’’. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION. 
Section 137 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 
(29 U.S.C. 2872) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(d) PERSONAL REEMPLOYMENT ACCOUNTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated $3,600,000,000 for fiscal year 2003 to 
carry out chapter 5A. 
‘‘(2) 
AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 
appropriated 
pursuant to the authorization of appropriations 
under paragraph (1) to carry out section 135I are 
authorized to remain available until expended.’’. 
SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 
The table of contents for the Workforce Investment 
Act of 1998 is amended by inserting after the items relat-
ing to chapter 5 of subtitle B of title I the following new 
items:
‘‘CHAPTER 5A—PERSONAL REEMPLOYMENT ACCOUNTS 
‘‘Sec. 135A. Purposes. 
‘‘Sec. 135B. Definitions. 
‘‘Sec. 135C. Grants to States. 
‘‘Sec. 135D. Within State allocation. 
‘‘Sec. 135E. Personal reemployment accounts. 
‘‘Sec. 135F. Use of funds. 
‘‘Sec. 135G. State plan. 
‘‘Sec. 135H. Program information. 
‘‘Sec. 135I. Evaluation, technical assistance, and data collection activities.’’.
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