Rebuilding Main Street Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7371 To amend the Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act to extend Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and improve short-time compensation programs and agreements, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 25, 2020 Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi- nois, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Small Busi- ness, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act to extend Federal Pandemic Unemployment Com- pensation and improve short-time compensation pro- grams and agreements, 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 ‘‘Rebuilding Main Street 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7371 IH SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEMPLOY- 1 MENT COMPENSATION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2104(e)(2) of the Relief 3 for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act (contained in 4 subtitle A of title II of division A of the CARES Act (Pub- 5 lic Law 116–136)) is amended by striking ‘‘July 31, 6 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2020’’. 7 (b) APPLICATION TO SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION 8 PROGRAMS AND AGREEMENTS.—Section 2104(i)(2) of the 9 Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act (contained 10 in subtitle A of title II of division A of the CARES Act 11 (Public Law 116–136)) is amended— 12 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 13 the end; 14 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 15 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(E) short-time compensation under sec- 18 tion 2108 or 2109.’’. 19 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO FINANCING OF SHORT-TIME 20 COMPENSATION. 21 (a) STATES WITH PROGRAMS IN LAW.—Section 22 2108 of the Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus 23 Act (contained in subtitle A of title II of division A of 24 the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136)) is amended— 25 (1) in subsection (a)— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7371 IH (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para- 1 graph (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (3), (4), 2 and (5)’’; and 3 (B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert- 4 ing the following: 5 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON PAYMENTS.—No pay- 6 ments shall be made to a State under this section 7 for short-time compensation paid to an individual by 8 the State during a benefit year in excess of 26 times 9 the amount of regular compensation (including de- 10 pendents’ allowances) under the State law payable to 11 such individual for a week of total unemployment. 12 ‘‘(4) SEASONAL, TEMPORARY, OR INTERMIT- 13 TENT EMPLOYMENT.—Payments may be made to a 14 State under this section for benefits paid to an indi- 15 vidual by the State under a short-time compensation 16 program if such individual is employed by the par- 17 ticipating employer on a seasonal, temporary, or 18 intermittent basis, and any reduction in such indi- 19 vidual’s hours is due to circumstances related to the 20 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic. 21 ‘‘(5) AUTHORITY FOR STATES WITH PROGRAMS 22 IN LAW TO TEMPORARILY ADJUST LIMITS ON WORK- 23 WEEK REDUCTION AND PERMITTING REHIRING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7371 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of mak- 1 ing payments under this section, in the case of 2 a State whose State law provides for the pay- 3 ment of short-time compensation under a short- 4 time compensation program that meets the defi- 5 nition of such a program under section 3306(v) 6 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986— 7 ‘‘(i) paragraph (2) of such section 8 3306(v) shall be applied by inserting ‘or 9 the employer rehires employees or brings 10 back employees from furlough at reduced 11 hours’ after ‘layoffs’; 12 ‘‘(ii) paragraph (3) of such section 13 3306(v) shall be applied by striking ‘60 14 percent’ and inserting ‘80 percent’; and 15 ‘‘(iii) paragraph (7) of such section 16 3306(v) shall be applied by inserting ‘, or 17 who is rehired or brought back from fur- 18 lough at reduced hours under the pro- 19 gram,’ after ‘under the program’. 20 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The modifications to 21 such section 3306(v) under clauses (i), (ii), and 22 (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall only apply dur- 23 ing the period for which this section is applica- 24 ble.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7371 IH (2) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and 1 (f) as subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively; and 2 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON CHARGING OF FEDERALLY 5 REIMBURSED SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION BENEFITS.— 6 Beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection, a 7 State receiving payments under this section may not in- 8 crease experience rated State unemployment taxes, or re- 9 quire reimbursement for benefit costs, due to short-time 10 compensation benefits paid on or before December 31, 11 2020.’’. 12 (b) FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS.— 13 (1) APPLICATION OF SECTION 3306 OF THE IN- 14 TERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.—Section 15 2109(b)(1) of the Relief for Workers Affected by 16 Coronavirus Act (contained in subtitle A of title II 17 of division A of the CARES Act (Public Law 116– 18 136)) is amended by inserting before the period at 19 the end ‘‘except that paragraphs (2), (3), and (7) of 20 such section 3306(v) shall be applied under an 21 agreement under this section in the same manner as 22 such paragraphs are applied under section 2108 23 pursuant to clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of paragraph 24 (5)(A) of such section’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7371 IH (2) EXPANSION OF FINANCING FOR SHORT- 1 TIME COMPENSATION.— 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 2109 of the 3 Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act 4 (contained in subtitle A of title II of division A 5 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136)) is 6 amended— 7 (i) in subsection (b), by striking para- 8 graphs (2) and (3) and inserting the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON PLANS.—A short-time 11 compensation plan approved by a State shall not 12 permit the payment of short-time compensation to 13 an individual by the State during a benefit year in 14 excess of 26 times the amount of regular compensa- 15 tion (including dependents’ allowances) under the 16 State law payable to such individual for a week of 17 total unemployment. 18 ‘‘(3) SEASONAL, TEMPORARY, OR INTERMIT- 19 TENT EMPLOYMENT.—Payments may be made to a 20 State under this section for benefits paid to an indi- 21 vidual by the State under a short-time compensation 22 plan if such individual is employed by the partici- 23 pating employer on a seasonal, temporary, or inter- 24 mittent basis, and any reduction in such individual’s 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7371 IH hours is due to circumstances related to the 1 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic.’’; 2 and 3 (ii) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by strik- 4 ing ‘‘one-half’’ and inserting ‘‘100 per- 5 cent’’. 6 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 7 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect as 8 if included in the enactment of such section 9 2109. 10 (3) RESTRICTION ON CHARGING OF FEDERALLY 11 REIMBURSED SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION BENE- 12 FITS.—Section 2109 of the Relief for Workers Af- 13 fected by Coronavirus Act (contained in subtitle A of 14 title II of division A of the CARES Act (Public Law 15 116–136)) is amended— 16 (A) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub- 17 section (g); and 18 (B) by inserting after subsection (e) the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(f) RESTRICTION ON CHARGING OF FEDERALLY 21 REIMBURSED SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION BENEFITS.— 22 Beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection, a 23 State receiving payments under this section may not in- 24 crease experience rated State unemployment taxes, or re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7371 IH quire reimbursement for benefit costs, due to short-time 1 compensation benefits paid on or before December 31, 2 2020.’’. 3 (c) FEDERAL WEBSITE AND COMMON APPLICATION 4 FOR SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION.—Title IX of the Social 5 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended by add- 6 ing at the end the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 912. SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION COMMON APPLICA- 8 TION AND WEBSITE. 9 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION COM- 10 MON APPLICATION.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 12 after the enactment of this section, the Secretary of 13 Labor shall establish and maintain an internet-based 14 Federal short-time compensation common applica- 15 tion through which an employer may apply to the 16 short-time compensation program of any State (in- 17 cluding multiple States at the same time) that has 18 adopted such common application. 19 ‘‘(2) USE OF MODEL LANGUAGE.—The Sec- 20 retary of Labor shall establish the common applica- 21 tion under paragraph (1) based on the model lan- 22 guage developed pursuant to section 2165 of the 23 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 24 2012. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7371 IH ‘‘(b) FEDERAL SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION 1 WEBSITE.—Not later than 30 days after the enactment 2 of this section, the Secretary of Labor shall establish and 3 maintain a publicly available internet website— 4 ‘‘(1) through which an employer may obtain in- 5 formation about any short-time compensation pro- 6 gram available in the State in which the employer 7 operates, including a program under sections 2108 8 through 2110 of the Relief for Workers Affected by 9 Coronavirus Act (contained in subtitle A of title II 10 of division A of the CARES Act); and 11 ‘‘(2) that provides information about and access 12 to the Federal short-time compensation common ap- 13 plication, as established in subsection (a).’’. 14 SEC. 4. IMPROVEMENTS TO GRANTS FOR SHORT-TIME COM- 15 PENSATION PROGRAMS. 16 (a) EXISTING GRANTS.—Section 2110 of the Relief 17 for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act (contained in 18 subtitle A of title II of division A of the CARES Act (Pub- 19 lic Law 116–136)) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)— 21 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or 22 enter into an agreement under section 2109 to 23 provide’’ after ‘‘enact’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7371 IH (B) in paragraph (3), by striking subpara- 1 graph (B) and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(B) CLARIFICATION.—A State admin- 3 istering a short-time compensation program 4 that does not meet the definition of a short- 5 time compensation program as defined in sub- 6 section (i)(2) shall not be eligible to receive a 7 grant under this section until such time as the 8 State provides for payments under a short-time 9 compensation program that meets such defini- 10 tion.’’; 11 (2) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (1) 12 and inserting the following: 13 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 14 ‘‘(A) IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPROVE- 15 MENT.—Subject to subparagraph (C), the max- 16 imum amount available for making grants 17 under subsections (a) (1) and (2) to a State 18 that administers a short-time compensation 19 program shall be equal to the amount obtained 20 by multiplying $150,000,000 (less the amount 21 used by the Secretary under subsection (e)) by 22 the same ratio as would apply under subsection 23 (a)(2)(B) of section 903 of the Social Security 24 Act (42 U.S.C. 1103) for purposes of deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7371 IH mining such State’s share of any excess amount 1 (as described in subsection (a)(1) of such sec- 2 tion) that would have been subject to transfer 3 to State accounts, as of October 1, 2019, under 4 the provisions of subsection (a) of such sec- 5 tion.’’; 6 (3) in subsection (c)— 7 (A) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or 8 agreement’’ after ‘‘the State law’’; and 9 (B) in paragraph (4)(B), by inserting 10 ‘‘(other than pursuant to an agreement under 11 section 2109)’’ after ‘‘short-time compensation 12 program’’; 13 (4) in subsection (g), by striking 14 ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$200,000,000’’; and 15 (5) in subsection (i)(2), by inserting before the 16 period at the end ‘‘, except that paragraphs (2), (3), 17 and (7) of such section 3306(v) shall be applied 18 under this section in the same manner as such para- 19 graphs are applied under section 2108 pursuant to 20 clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of paragraph (5)(A) of such 21 section’’. 22 (b) ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR STATES WHO 23 STREAMLINE PROGRAM GUIDELINES.—Section 2110 of 24 the Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act (con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7371.IH H7371 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7371 IH tained in subtitle A of title II of division A of the CARES 1 Act (Public Law 116–136)) is amended— 2 (1) in subsection (a)— 3 (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 4 paragraph (4); 5 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(3) FOR STREAMLINING PROGRAM GUIDE- 8 LINES.—The Secretary shall award grants to States 9 that are eligible and submit plans for a grant under 10 paragraph (1) for such States that streamline the 11 short-time compensation program guidelines of the 12 Stat [Text truncated for display. 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