I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1154
To permit States to establish programs using unemployment funds to assist
unemployed individuals in becoming self-employed.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 1, 1993
Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means
A BILL
To permit States to establish programs using unemployment
funds to assist unemployed individuals in becoming self-
employed.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SELF-EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the Secretary of Labor (hereinafter in this
section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may authorize
States to establish and operate self-employment programs
that meet the requirements of this section.
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may authorize
a State self-employment program, if a State applies to
participate in such a program, and the Secretary deter-
mines that—
(1) the State program does not result in any
cost to the Unemployment Trust Fund (established
by section 904(a) of the Social Security Act) in ex-
cess of the cost that would be incurred by such State
and charged to such Fund if the State had not par-
ticipated in a self-employment program;
(2) the State program provides unemployment
benefits only to individuals who are entitled to un-
employment compensation under State law (without
regard to any disqualification resulting from self-em-
ployment and without regard to any State law relat-
ing to availability for work, active search for work,
or refusal to accept work);
(3) the State program contains a process to tar-
get individuals who have been permanently separated
from their jobs or do not expect to be recalled to
their jobs;
(4) benefits under the State program are avail-
able only to individuals who are likely to receive un-
employment compensation for the maximum number
of weeks that such compensation is available under
the State law during a benefit year; and
(5) the aggregate number of individuals receiv-
ing benefits under the State program does not at
any time exceed 5 percent of the number of individ-
uals receiving compensation under the State law at
such time.
(c) BENEFITS.—If the Secretary authorizes a self-
employment program for a State under this section, the
State may use the State unemployment fund to provide
cash unemployment benefits, exclusive of the expenses of
administration, to individuals participating in the pro-
gram. Such benefits shall be used to assist participating
individuals in becoming self-employed.
(d) REPORTS.—
(1) STATE REPORTS.—Any State operating a
self-employment program authorized by the Sec-
retary under this section shall report annually to the
Secretary on the number of individuals who partici-
pate in the program, the number of individuals who
are able to develop and sustain businesses, the oper-
ating costs of the program, compliance with program
requirements, and any other relevant aspects of pro-
gram operations requested by the Secretary.
(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than
December 31, 1996, based on the reports received
from States operating self-employment programs
under this section, the Secretary shall report to the
Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep-
resentatives with respect to the operation of the
State programs. The report shall contain the Sec-
retary’s recommendations regarding establishment of
a permanent self-employment program as part of the
regular unemployment compensation program.
(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the
terms ‘‘compensation’’, ‘‘regular compensation’’, ‘‘benefit
year’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State law’’, have the respective
meanings given such terms by section 205 of the Federal-
State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of
1970.
(f) TERMINATION.—The provisions of this section
shall not apply after September 30, 1997.
Æ