Back to Work Bonus Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3479 To incentivize American workers to seek and accept jobs, to aid the economic recovery by converting Federal pandemic emergency unemployment com- pensation into back to work bonuses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2021 Mr. BUDD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To incentivize American workers to seek and accept jobs, to aid the economic recovery by converting Federal pan- demic emergency unemployment compensation into back to work bonuses, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Back to Work Bonus 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. BACK TO WORK BONUSES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2104(b) of the CARES 7 Act (15 U.S.C. 9023(b)) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3479.IH H3479 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3479 IH (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para- 1 graph (5); and 2 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(4) BACK-TO-WORK BONUSES.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any agreement under 6 this section may also provide that the State 7 agency of the State may make a lump sum pay- 8 ment to each individual who— 9 ‘‘(i) was eligible for Federal Pandemic 10 Unemployment Compensation under para- 11 graph (1) for— 12 ‘‘(I) any week beginning after the 13 date of enactment of the Back to 14 Work Bonus Act; and 15 ‘‘(II) at least 4 weeks imme- 16 diately preceding the week under 17 clause (I); 18 ‘‘(ii) is no longer eligible for Federal 19 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation 20 under paragraph (1) (as determined by the 21 State), as a result of earnings due to com- 22 mencing employment with an employer by 23 whom the individual has not been em- 24 ployed during the preceding 6 months; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3479.IH H3479 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3479 IH ‘‘(iii) as verified by the individual’s 1 employer pursuant to subparagraph (E)— 2 ‘‘(I) has been employed by a non- 3 governmental employer throughout 4 the qualifying period; and 5 ‘‘(II) remains employed with an 6 intent to continue such employment. 7 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—A payment made to an 8 individual under this paragraph shall be paid in 9 a lump sum $900. 10 ‘‘(C) QUALIFYING PERIOD.—For purposes 11 of this paragraph, the term ‘qualifying period’ 12 means, with respect to an individual, a period— 13 ‘‘(i) beginning on the date the indi- 14 vidual commenced employment as de- 15 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii); and 16 ‘‘(ii) extending at least 4 consecutive 17 weeks from such date. 18 ‘‘(D) DURATION.—A lump-sum payment 19 may not be made to any individual under this 20 paragraph with respect to a qualifying period 21 beginning on or after August 14, 2021. 22 ‘‘(E) EMPLOYER VERIFICATION REQUIRED 23 FOR LUMP-SUM PAYMENT.—Before making a 24 lump-sum payment to an individual pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3479.IH H3479 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3479 IH this paragraph, a State agency shall require 1 verification from the individual’s employer— 2 ‘‘(i) of the individual’s employment 3 status; 4 ‘‘(ii) of the wages paid to the indi- 5 vidual during the applicable qualifying pe- 6 riod; and 7 ‘‘(iii) of the hours worked by the indi- 8 vidual during the qualifying period. 9 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION.—A State may not pro- 10 vide more than 1 lump-sum payment under this 11 paragraph to an individual. 12 ‘‘(G) SPECIAL RULE.—A payment made 13 pursuant to an agreement under this paragraph 14 shall not be considered to violate the withdrawal 15 requirements of section 303(a)(5) or section 16 3304(a)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 17 1986.’’. 18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2104 of 19 the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9023) is amended— 20 (1) in subsections (d) and (f), by inserting ‘‘, 21 payments under subsection (b)(4)’’ after ‘‘Federal 22 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation’’ each place 23 it appears; and 24 (2) in subsection (g)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3479.IH H3479 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3479 IH (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1 the end; 2 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe- 3 riod at the end inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(3) the purposes of the preceding provisions of 6 this section, as such provisions apply with respect to 7 payments under subsection (b)(4), shall be applied 8 with respect to unemployment benefits described in 9 subsection (i)(2) to the same extent and in the same 10 manner as if those benefits were regular compensa- 11 tion.’’. 12 SEC. 3. SUNSETTING FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT 13 COMPENSATION. 14 Section 2104(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the CARES Act (15 15 U.S.C. 9023(b)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘Sep- 16 tember 6, 2021’’ and inserting ‘‘the date of enactment of 17 the Back to Work Bonus Act’’. 18 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING WORK SEARCH REQUIREMENTS. 19 (a) MODIFYING PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSIST- 20 ANCE.—Section 2102(a)(3)(A)(ii)(I) of the CARES Act 21 (15 U.S.C. 9021(a)(3)(A)(ii)(I)) is amended by striking 22 items (aa) through (kk) and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘(aa) the individual has an 24 active infection with COVID–19; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3479.IH H3479 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3479 IH ‘‘(bb) the individual received 1 an order from a physician to 2 quarantine due to exposure to 3 COVID–19; or 4 ‘‘(cc) the individual is caring 5 for a family member or a mem- 6 ber of the individual’s household 7 described in items (aa) or (bb); 8 or’’. 9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2102(c) 10 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021(c)) is amended by— 11 (1) inserting at the end of paragraph (6) the 12 following: ‘‘A State shall require proof of active in- 13 fection or quarantine order required by subsection 14 (a)(3)(A)(ii)(I).’’; and 15 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 16 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively. 17 (c) MODIFYING PANDEMIC EMERGENCY UNEMPLOY- 18 MENT COMPENSATION.—Section 2107(a)(7) of the 19 CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9025(a)(7)) is amended by strik- 20 ing subparagraph (B) and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘(B) FLEXIBILITY.— 22 ‘‘(i) Notwithstanding the requirements 23 under subparagraph (A) and paragraph 24 (2)(D), a State may provide flexibility in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3479.IH H3479 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3479 IH meeting such requirements in case of indi- 1 viduals unable to search for work be- 2 cause— 3 ‘‘(I) the individual has an active 4 infection with COVID–19; 5 ‘‘(II) the individual received an 6 order from a physician to quarantine 7 due to exposure to COVID–19; or 8 ‘‘(III) the individual is caring for 9 a family member or a member of the 10 individual’s household described in 11 subclause (I) or (II). 12 ‘‘(ii) Prior to providing flexibility 13 under this subparagraph, a State shall re- 14 quire proof of active infection or quar- 15 antine order required by subclause (I) or 16 (II).’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3479.IH H3479 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS