BRIDGE for Workers Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2872 To amend title III of the Social Security Act to extend reemployment services and eligibility assessments to all claimants for unemployment benefits, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 14, 2019 Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. PORTMAN) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Finance A BILL To amend title III of the Social Security Act to extend reemployment services and eligibility assessments to all claimants for unemployment benefits, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Building on Reemploy- 4 ment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for 5 Workers Act’’ or the ‘‘BRIDGE for Workers Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2872.IS S2872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2872 IS (1) The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Public 1 Law 115–123) improved program accountability for 2 effectively serving unemployed workers and made a 3 significant new investment in reemployment services. 4 (2) Research shows the longer workers are out 5 of work, the harder it can be to maintain their skills, 6 professional network, and stable home life. 7 (3) Reemployment services give workers who 8 might otherwise struggle to find new jobs the tools 9 that they need to get back to work—such as individ- 10 ualized career counseling and job search help as well 11 as local labor market information—and they can 12 serve as an entry point to the workforce development 13 system. 14 (4) Reemployment services have been dem- 15 onstrated to reduce the number of weeks that pro- 16 gram participants receive unemployment benefits by 17 improving their employment outcomes, including 18 earnings. 19 (5) Unemployment benefits replace less than 20 half of working income, on average, so workers who 21 find new jobs quickly suffer less financial hardship. 22 (6) Combining targeted reemployment services 23 with unemployment benefits helps keep people at- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2872.IS S2872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2872 IS tached to the labor force who might otherwise be- 1 come discouraged and drop out. 2 (7) The Congressional Budget Office estimates 3 that, over time, investments in reemployment serv- 4 ices create savings for taxpayers and unemployment 5 trust funds by reducing spending on unemployment 6 benefits. 7 (8) Many different types of workers can benefit 8 from reemployment services. Reemployment services 9 should be used to shorten the duration of unemploy- 10 ment for workers even if they are not projected to 11 fully exhaust their unemployment benefits. 12 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR REEMPLOYMENT SERVICES. 13 Section 306(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 14 506(a)) is amended— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘individuals referred to reem- 16 ployment services as described in section 303(j)’’ 17 and inserting ‘‘claimants for unemployment com- 18 pensation, including claimants referred to reemploy- 19 ment services as described in section 303(j),’’; and 20 (2) by striking ‘‘such individuals’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘such claimants’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2872.IS S2872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS