Title: Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020
This bill responds to the coronavirus outbreak by expanding unemployment benefits and providing grants to states for processing and paying claims.
Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Labor to transfer FY2020 emergency grants to a state's Unemployment Trust Fund to administer unemployment insurance. Grant recipients must (1) require employers to notify employees at the time they lose their jobs of the availability of unemployment compensation (UC), (2) ensure that UC applications and assistance with them are accessible, and (3) take certain steps to ensure the successful processing of applications.
A state may receive an additional grant if its UC claims increased by 10% over the previous calendar year and it
The bill (1) allows states to temporarily modify their UC laws and policies to respond to the spread of COVID-19; (2) waives interest on state loans for UC programs through December 31, 2020; (3) requires Labor to provide technical assistance and guidance to states for short-term UC programs; and (4) temporarily provides full federal financing of extended UC benefits, rather than requiring 50% state financing.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6199 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6199

   To provide for emergency transfers for unemployment compensation 
                administration, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2020

 Mr. Horsford introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for emergency transfers for unemployment compensation 
                administration, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Unemployment Insurance 
Stabilization and Access Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY TRANSFERS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION 
              ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 903 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1103) is amended by adding at the end the following:

      ``Emergency Transfers in Fiscal Year 2020 for Administration

    ``(h)(1)(A) In addition to any other amounts, the Secretary of 
Labor shall provide for the making of emergency administration grants 
in fiscal year 2020 to the accounts of the States in the Unemployment 
Trust Fund, by transfer from amounts reserved for that purpose in the 
Federal unemployment account, in accordance with succeeding provisions 
of this subsection.
    ``(B) The amount of an emergency administration grant with respect 
to a State shall, as determined by the Secretary of Labor, be equal to 
the amount obtained by multiplying $1,000,000,000 by the same ratio as 
would apply under subsection (a)(2)(B) for purposes of determining such 
State's share of any excess amount (as described in subsection (a)(1)) 
that would have been subject to transfer to State accounts, as of 
October 1, 2019, under the provisions of subsection (a).
    ``(C) Of the emergency administration grant determined under 
subparagraph (B) with respect to a State--
            ``(i) not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
        this subsection, 50 percent shall be transferred to the account 
        of such State upon a certification by the Secretary of Labor to 
        the Secretary of the Treasury that the State meets the 
        requirements of paragraph (2); and
            ``(ii) only with respect to a State in which the number of 
        unemployment compensation claims has increased by at least 10 
        percent over the previous calendar year, the remainder shall be 
        transferred to the account of such State upon a certification 
        by the Secretary of Labor to the Secretary of the Treasury that 
        the State meets the requirements of paragraph (3).
    ``(2) The requirements of this paragraph with respect to a State 
are the following:
            ``(A) The State requires employers to provide notification 
        of the availability of unemployment compensation to employees 
        at the time of separation from employment. Such notification 
        may be based on model language issued by the Secretary of 
        Labor.
            ``(B) The State ensures that applications for unemployment 
        compensation, and assistance with the application process, are 
        accessible in at least two of the following: In-person, by 
        phone, or online.
            ``(C) The State notifies applicants when an application is 
        received and is being processed, and in any case in which an 
        application is unable to be processed, provides information 
        about steps the applicant can take to ensure the successful 
        processing of the application.
    ``(3) The requirements of this paragraph with respect to a State 
are the following:
            ``(A) The State has expressed its commitment to maintain 
        and strengthen access to the unemployment compensation system, 
        including through initial and continued claims.
            ``(B) The State has demonstrated steps it has taken or will 
        take to ease eligibility requirements and access to 
        unemployment compensation for claimants, including waiving work 
        search requirements and the waiting week, and directly or 
        indirectly relieving benefit charges for claimants and 
        employers directly impacted by COVID-19 due to an illness in 
        the workplace or direction from a public health official to 
        isolate or quarantine workers.
    ``(4) Any amount transferred to the account of a State under this 
subsection may be used by such State only for the administration of its 
unemployment compensation law, including by taking such steps as may be 
necessary to ensure adequate resources in periods of high demand.
    ``(5) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, each State receiving emergency administration grant funding under 
paragraph (1)(C)(i) shall submit to the Secretary of Labor, the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, and the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate, a report that includes--
            ``(A) an analysis of the recipiency rate for unemployment 
        compensation in the State as such rate has changed over time;
            ``(B) a description of steps the State intends to take to 
        increase such recipiency rate.
    ``(6)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 
of the Treasury shall transfer from the general fund of the Treasury 
(from funds not otherwise appropriated) to the employment security 
administration account (as established by section 901 of the Social 
Security Act) such sums as the Secretary of Labor estimates to be 
necessary for purposes of making the transfers described in paragraph 
(1)(C).
    ``(B) There are appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury, 
without fiscal year limitation, the sums referred to in the preceding 
sentence and such sums shall not be required to be repaid.''.
    (b) Emergency Flexibility.--Notwithstanding any other law, if a 
State modifies its unemployment compensation law and policies 
(including with respect to work search, waiting week, good cause, and 
employer experience rating) on an emergency temporary basis as needed 
to respond to the spread of COVID-19, such modifications shall be 
disregarded for the purposes of applying section 303 of the Social 
Security Act and section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
such State law.
    (c) Regulations.--The Secretary of Labor may prescribe any 
regulations, operating instructions, or other guidance necessary to 
carry out the amendment made by subsection (a).

SEC. 3. TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR STATES WITH ADVANCES.

    Section 1202(b)(10)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1322(b)(10)(A)) is amended by striking ``beginning on the date of 
enactment of this paragraph and ending on December 31, 2010'' and 
inserting ``beginning on the date of enactment of the Emergency 
Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020 and ending 
on December 31, 2020''.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND GUIDANCE FOR SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION 
              PROGRAMS.

    The Secretary of Labor shall assist States in establishing, 
implementing, and improving the employer awareness of short-time 
compensation programs (as defined in section 3306(v) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986) to help avert layoffs, including by providing 
technical assistance and guidance.

SEC. 5. FULL FEDERAL FUNDING OF EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR 
              A LIMITED PERIOD.

    (a) In General.--In the case of sharable extended compensation and 
sharable regular compensation paid for weeks of unemployment beginning 
after the date of the enactment of this section and before December 31, 
2020 (and only with respect to States that receive emergency 
administration grant funding under clauses (i) and (ii) of section 
903(h)(1)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1102(h)(1)(C))), 
section 204(a)(1) of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment 
Compensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note) shall be applied by 
substituting ``100 percent of'' for ``one-half of''.
    (b) Temporary Federal Matching for the First Week of Extended 
Benefits for States With No Waiting Week.--With respect to weeks of 
unemployment beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act and 
ending on or before December 31, 2020, subparagraph (B) of section 
204(a)(2) of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act 
of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note) shall not apply.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) the terms ``sharable extended compensation'' and 
        ``sharable regular compensation'' have the respective meanings 
        given such terms under section 204 of the Federal-State 
        Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970; and
            (2) the term ``week'' has the meaning given such term under 
        section 205 of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment 
        Compensation Act of 1970.
    (d) Regulations.--The Secretary of Labor may prescribe any 
operating instructions or regulations necessary to carry out this 
section.
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