Federal Unemployment Compensation Equality Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 165 To amend chapter 85 of title 5, United States Code, to clarify that Federal employees excepted from a furlough are eligible for unemployment com- pensation. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 16, 2019 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend chapter 85 of title 5, United States Code, to clarify that Federal employees excepted from a furlough are eligible for unemployment compensation. 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 ‘‘Federal Unemploy- 4 ment Compensation Equality Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S165.IS S165 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 165 IS SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION THAT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES EX- 1 CEPTED FROM A FURLOUGH ARE ELIGIBLE 2 FOR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8502 of title 5, United 4 States Code, is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 6 section (f); and 7 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 8 lowing new subsection: 9 ‘‘(e)(1) With respect to any lapse in appropriations 10 beginning on or after December 22, 2018, each excepted 11 Federal employee shall be, solely for the purpose of deter- 12 mining eligibility for unemployment compensation under 13 this subchapter, deemed for the duration of the lapse in 14 appropriations to be— 15 ‘‘(A) totally separated from Federal service; and 16 ‘‘(B) eligible for unemployment compensation 17 benefits under this subchapter with no waiting pe- 18 riod for such eligibility to accrue. 19 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘excepted Federal 20 employee’ means a Federal employee who— 21 ‘‘(A) is an excepted employee or an employee 22 performing emergency work, as such terms are de- 23 fined by the Office of Personnel Management; and 24 ‘‘(B) is not being paid due to a lapse in appro- 25 priations.’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S165.IS S165 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 165 IS (b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub- 1 section (a) shall apply to weeks of unemployment begin- 2 ning on or after December 22, 2018. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S165.IS S165 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS