The US House Ways and Means Committee has reported legislation language proposed for inclusion in the budget reconciliation bill for 2021. The language also seeks to address COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus. A summary of the UI related provisions addressed in the bill is available from the House Ways and Means Committee at 1.UI_sxs.pdf (house.gov)
Click here for the text of the Chairman’s substitute legislative language. This language will be consolidated with language reported by other House committees before being scheduled for consideration by the full House. The House approved version will be sent to the Senate for consideration with plans to finalize enactment before March 14th when a number of provisions expire. The specific UI related sections address
Part 1 – Extension of CARES Act Unemployment Provisions
Section 9011. Extension of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. This section extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides unemployment benefits to some self-employed and pandemic-affected individuals who do not qualify for regular state unemployment benefits, through August 29, 2021. This section also increases the total number of weeks of benefits available to individuals who are not able to return to work safely from 50 to 74 and provides guidance to states on coordinating with other unemployment benefits when needed.
Section 9012 Extension and Increase of Emergency Unemployment Relief for Governmental Entities and Nonprofit Organizations. This section extends and increases the percentage of a CARES provision which provided a subsidy for costs incurred by employers who provide unemployment benefits on a reimbursable basis. The final language from the committee increases the reimbursement to 75% through August 29, 2021.
Section 9013. Extension of Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. This section extends both the federal supplemental unemployment benefit (FPUC), which are added to both state and federal benefits and the mixed-earner supplement added to it for eligible workers through August 29, 2021. It increases the FPUC amount from $300 to $400 for weeks ending after March 14 and before August 29, 2021. This section also clarifies that mixed-earner supplement is treated the same way as the FPUC in determining eligibility for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Section 9014. Extension of Full Federal Funding of the First Week of Compensable Regular Unemployment for States with No Waiting Week. This section restores full reimbursement for state costs related to waiving the waiting week beginning December 31, 2020 and continues it through August 29, 2021.
Section 9015. Extension of Emergency State Staffing Flexibility. This section extends temporary exceptions to state unemployment insurance staffing restrictions from the CARES Act through August 29, 2021.
Section 9016. Extension of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. This section increases the number of weeks of benefits an individual worker may receive in the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program from 24 to 48, and also extends the period of time in which workers can receive PEUC benefits if they exhaust regular state UI benefits to last until August 29, 2021. The section also includes rules for the order in which various types of unemployment benefits should be paid.
Section 9017. Extension of Temporary Financing of Short-Time Compensation Payments in States with Programs in Law. This section extends full federal financing of benefits provided in Short-Time Compensation programs for states which have laws establishing such programs within their Unemployment Insurance systems through August 29, 2021.
Section 9018. Extension of Temporary Financing of Short-Time Compensation Agreements for States without Programs in Law. This section extends a 50 percent subsidy for temporary Short-Time Compensation programs which states established using administrative authority during the pandemic in states that have not amended state law to permit access in the future through August 29, 2021.
Part 2 – Extension of FFCRA Unemployment Provisions
Section 9021. Extension of Temporary Assistance for States with Advances. This section ensures that the earliest date on which states would begin accumulating interest on federal loans they have taken in order to pay state unemployment benefits would be August 29, 2021. The loans allow states with low balances in their unemployment trust funds to delay employer tax increases or other employer surcharges while the economy is struggling.
Section 9022. Extension of Full Federal Funding of Extended Unemployment Compensation. This section extends of the provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act which provided temporary full federal financing of Extended Benefits (EB) for high unemployment states through August 29, 2021. States are normally required to pay 50 percent of the cost of EB, which is a program in permanent law.
Part 3 – Department of Labor Funding for Timely, Accurate, and Equitable Payment
Section 9031. Department of Labor Funding. This section provides a direct appropriation of $8 million to the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration for costs related to day-to-day federal administration of unemployment insurance, including the temporary pandemic programs.
Section 9032. Fund for Fraud Prevention, Equitable Access, and Timely Payment to Eligible Workers This section would appropriate $2 billion to the Department of Labor specifically to support program integrity and timely and equitable access to benefits. The Secretary of Labor would be authorized to use the funds directly to develop system-wide program integrity solutions and address access barriers or processing backlogs, distribute funds to state and territorial Unemployment Insurance programs for these purposes, or make transfers to the Office of the Inspector General or the Department of Justice or other agencies to support unemployment fraud investigations or prosecutions.
>> Download Legislation: Crisis Support for Unemployed Workers
