American Workforce Rescue Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4143 To extend the unemployment insurance provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the duration of the economic recovery, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 1, 2020 Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To extend the unemployment insurance provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the duration of the economic recovery, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘American Workforce Rescue Act of 2020’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Extension of Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4143 IS Sec. 3. Extension and expansion of the pandemic emergency unemployment compensation program. Sec. 4. Extension of pandemic unemployment assistance. Sec. 5. Extension of additional unemployment compensation provisions. SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEMPLOY- 1 MENT COMPENSATION. 2 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 2104(e) of the Relief for 3 Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act (contained in sub- 4 title A of title II of division A of the CARES Act (Public 5 Law 116–136)) is amended to read as follows: 6 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An agreement entered into 8 under this section shall apply to weeks of unemploy- 9 ment— 10 ‘‘(A) beginning after the date on which 11 such agreement is entered into; and 12 ‘‘(B) ending on or before the applicable 13 end date described in paragraph (2). 14 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE END DATE.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The applicable end 16 date described in this paragraph with respect to 17 a State is the date that is 13 weeks after the 18 first date (after the date the State entered into 19 an agreement under this section) that the State 20 is not in an extended benefit period described in 21 subparagraph (B). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4143 IS ‘‘(B) EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD.—For 1 purposes of subparagraph (A), a State shall be 2 considered to be in an extended benefit period, 3 as of any given day, if such a period would then 4 be in effect for such State under the Federal- 5 State Extended Unemployment Compensation 6 Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note) if— 7 ‘‘(i) section 203(f) of such Act were 8 applied to such State (regardless of wheth- 9 er the State by law had provided for such 10 application); and 11 ‘‘(ii) such section 203(f)— 12 ‘‘(I) were applied by substituting 13 ‘6.0’ for ‘6.5’ in paragraph (1)(A)(i) 14 thereof; and 15 ‘‘(II) did not include the require- 16 ment under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) 17 thereof.’’. 18 (b) REVISION OF AMOUNT.—Section 2104(b) of the 19 Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act (contained 20 in subtitle A of title II of division A of the CARES Act 21 (Public Law 116–136)) is amended— 22 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘(or, for 23 weeks of unemployment beginning after July 31, 24 2020, and ending on or before the applicable end 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4143 IS date described in subsection (e)(2) the amount de- 1 scribed in paragraph (3))’’ after ‘‘$600’’; and 2 (2) by adding at the end the following new 3 paragraph: 4 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEM- 5 PLOYMENT COMPENSATION.— 6 ‘‘(A) TIERS.—The amount described in 7 this paragraph is, with respect to a State, the 8 following amount: 9 ‘‘(i) FIRST TIER AMOUNT.—In the 10 case of weeks beginning in a first tier high 11 unemployment period described in sub- 12 paragraph (B)(i), $100. 13 ‘‘(ii) SECOND TIER AMOUNT.—In the 14 case of weeks beginning in a second tier 15 high unemployment period described in 16 subparagraph (B)(ii), $200. 17 ‘‘(iii) THIRD TIER AMOUNT.—In the 18 case of weeks beginning in a third tier high 19 unemployment period described in sub- 20 paragraph (B)(iii), $300. 21 ‘‘(iv) FOURTH TIER AMOUNT.—In the 22 case of weeks beginning in a fourth tier 23 high unemployment period described in 24 subparagraph (B)(iv), $400. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4143 IS ‘‘(v) FIFTH TIER AMOUNT.—In the 1 case of weeks beginning in a third tier high 2 unemployment period described in sub- 3 paragraph (B)(v), $500. 4 ‘‘(vi) SIXTH TIER AMOUNT.—In the 5 case of weeks beginning in a fourth tier 6 high unemployment period described in 7 subparagraph (B)(vi), $600. 8 ‘‘(B) HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT PERIODS.— 9 ‘‘(i) FIRST TIER.—For purposes of 10 subparagraph (A)(i), a first tier high un- 11 employment period described in this clause 12 is, with respect to a State, any period dur- 13 ing which an extended benefit period would 14 be in effect for the State under the Fed- 15 eral-State Extended Unemployment Com- 16 pensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 17 note) if— 18 ‘‘(I) section 203(f) of such Act 19 were applied to such State (regardless 20 of whether the State by law had pro- 21 vided for such application); and 22 ‘‘(II) such section 203(f)— 23 ‘‘(aa) were applied by sub- 24 stituting ‘6.0 percent but less 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4143 IS than 7.0 percent’ for ‘6.5’ in 1 paragraph (1)(A)(i) thereof; and 2 ‘‘(bb) did not include the re- 3 quirement under paragraph 4 (1)(A)(ii) thereof. 5 ‘‘(ii) SECOND TIER.—For purposes of 6 subparagraph (A)(ii), a second tier high 7 unemployment period described in this 8 clause is, with respect to a State, any pe- 9 riod during which an extended benefit pe- 10 riod would be in effect for the State under 11 the Federal-State Extended Unemployment 12 Compensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 13 3304 note) if— 14 ‘‘(I) section 203(f) of such Act 15 were applied to such State (regardless 16 of whether the State by law had pro- 17 vided for such application); and 18 ‘‘(II) such section 203(f)— 19 ‘‘(aa) were applied by sub- 20 stituting ‘7.0 percent but less 21 than 8.0 percent’ for ‘6.5’ in 22 paragraph (1)(A)(i) thereof; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4143 IS ‘‘(bb) did not include the re- 1 quirement under paragraph 2 (1)(A)(ii) thereof. 3 ‘‘(iii) THIRD TIER.—For purposes of 4 subparagraph (A)(iii), a third tier high un- 5 employment period described in this clause 6 is, with respect to a State, any period dur- 7 ing which an extended benefit period would 8 be in effect for the State under the Fed- 9 eral-State Extended Unemployment Com- 10 pensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 11 note) if— 12 ‘‘(I) section 203(f) of such Act 13 were applied to such State (regardless 14 of whether the State by law had pro- 15 vided for such application); and 16 ‘‘(II) such section 203(f)— 17 ‘‘(aa) were applied by sub- 18 stituting ‘8.0 percent but less 19 than 9.0 percent’ for ‘6.5’ in 20 paragraph (1)(A)(i) thereof; and 21 ‘‘(bb) did not include the re- 22 quirement under paragraph 23 (1)(A)(ii) thereof. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4143 IS ‘‘(iv) FOURTH TIER.—For purposes of 1 subparagraph (A)(iv), a fourth tier high 2 unemployment period described in this 3 clause is, with respect to a State, any pe- 4 riod during which an extended benefit pe- 5 riod would be in effect for the State under 6 the Federal-State Extended Unemployment 7 Compensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 8 3304 note) if— 9 ‘‘(I) section 203(f) of such Act 10 were applied to such State (regardless 11 of whether the State by law had pro- 12 vided for such application); and 13 ‘‘(II) such section 203(f)— 14 ‘‘(aa) were applied by sub- 15 stituting ‘9.0 percent but less 16 than 10.0 percent’ for ‘6.5’ in 17 paragraph (1)(A)(i) thereof; and 18 ‘‘(bb) did not include the re- 19 quirement under paragraph 20 (1)(A)(ii) thereof. 21 ‘‘(v) FIFTH TIER.—For purposes of 22 subparagraph (A)(v), a fifth tier high un- 23 employment period described in this clause 24 is, with respect to a State, any period dur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4143 IS ing which an extended benefit period would 1 be in effect for the State under the Fed- 2 eral-State Extended Unemployment Com- 3 pensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 4 note) if— 5 ‘‘(I) section 203(f) of such Act 6 were applied to such State (regardless 7 of whether the State by law had pro- 8 vided for such application); and 9 ‘‘(II) such section 203(f)— 10 ‘‘(aa) were applied by sub- 11 stituting ‘10.0 percent but less 12 than 11.0 percent’ for ‘6.5’ in 13 paragraph (1)(A)(i) thereof; and 14 ‘‘(bb) did not include the re- 15 quirement under paragraph 16 (1)(A)(ii) thereof. 17 ‘‘(vi) SIXTH TIER.—For purposes of 18 subparagraph (A)(vi), a sixth tier high un- 19 employment period described in this clause 20 is, with respect to a State, any period dur- 21 ing which an extended benefit period would 22 be in effect for the State under the Fed- 23 eral-State Extended Unemployment Com- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4143 IS pensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 1 note) if— 2 ‘‘(I) section 203(f) of such Act 3 were applied to such State (regardless 4 of whether the State by law had pro- 5 vided for such application); and 6 ‘‘(II) such section 203(f)— 7 ‘‘(aa) were applied by sub- 8 stituting ‘11.0 percent’ for ‘6.5’ 9 in paragraph (1)(A)(i) thereof; 10 and 11 ‘‘(bb) did not include the re- 12 quirement under paragraph 13 (1)(A)(ii) thereof. 14 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULES.— 15 ‘‘(i) MINIMUM PERIOD ON A TIER BE- 16 FORE MOVING TO A LOWER TIER.—Once a 17 State is in a high unemployment period 18 tier described in clause (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), 19 or (vi) of subparagraph (B), the State may 20 not move to a lower high unemployment 21 period tier (resulting in a lower dollar 22 amount under subparagraph (A)) before 23 the State has been in the existing high un- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4143 IS employment period tier for a period of at 1 least 13 consecutive weeks. 2 ‘‘(ii) DEEMED FIRST TIER.—For pur- 3 poses of determining the amount of Fed- 4 eral Pandemic Unemployment Compensa- 5 tion during the 13-week period described 6 in subsection (e)(2)(A) with respect to a 7 State, the State shall be deemed to be in 8 a first tier high unemployment period de- 9 scribed in subparagraph (B)(i) during such 10 period.’’. 11 SEC. 3. EXTENSION AND EXPANSION OF THE PANDEMIC 12 EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSA- 13 TION PROGRAM. 14 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 2107(g) of the Relief for 15 Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act (contained in sub- 16 title A of title II of division A of the CARES Act (Public 17 Law 116–136)) is amended to read as follows: 18 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 20 and (3), an agreement entered into under this sec- 21 tion shall apply, with respect to a State, to weeks of 22 unemployment— 23 ‘‘(A) beginning after the date on which 24 such agreement is entered into; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4143 IS ‘‘(B) ending on or before the applicable 1 end date described in paragraph (2). 2 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE END DATE.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The applicable end 4 date described in this paragraph with respect to 5 a State is the later of— 6 ‘‘(i) March 27, 2021; or 7 ‘‘(ii) if, as of the date under clause 8 (i), the State is in an extended benefit pe- 9 riod described in subparagraph (B), the 10 first date after the date under clause (i) 11 that the State is not in an extended benefit 12 period described in subparagraph (B). 13 ‘‘(B) EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD.—For 14 purposes of subparagraph (A), a State shall be 15 considered to be in an extended benefit period, 16 as of any given day, if such a period would then 17 be in effect for such State under the Federal- 18 State Extended Unemployment Compensation 19 Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note) if— 20 ‘‘(i) section 203(f) of such Act were 21 applied to such State (regardless of wheth- 22 er the State by law had provided for such 23 application); and 24 ‘‘(ii) such section 203(f)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4143 IS ‘‘(I) were applied by substituting 1 ‘5.5’ for ‘6.5’ in paragraph (1)(A)(i) 2 thereof; and 3 ‘‘(II) did not include the require- 4 ment under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) 5 thereof. 6 ‘‘(3) TRANSITION FOR AMOUNT REMAINING IN 7 ACCOUNT.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 9 graph (B), in the case of an individual who has 10 amounts remaining in an account established 11 under subsection (b) as of the last day of the 12 last week (as determined in accordance with the 13 applicable State law) ending on or before the 14 date described in paragraph (1)(B), pandemic 15 emergency unemployment compensation shall 16 continue to be payable to such individual from 17 such amounts for any week beginning after 18 such date for which the individual meets the eli- 19 gibility requirements of this section. 20 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—No compensation shall 21 be payable by reason of paragraph (1) for any 22 week beginning after the date that is 4 months 23 after the date described in paragraph (1)(B).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4143.IS S4143 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 4143 IS (b) EXPANSION.—Section [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]