Back on Your Feet Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7762 To provide continued support for workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 23, 2020 Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico (for herself and Mr. HORSFORD) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To provide continued support for workers during the COVID- 19 pandemic, 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 on Your Feet 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONTINUED ASSISTANCE TO UNEMPLOYED WORK- 6 ERS UNABLE TO SAFELY RETURN TO WORK. 7 (a) EXTENSION OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEMPLOY- 8 MENT COMPENSATION.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7762 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2104(e) of the 1 CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9023(e)) is amended to read 2 as follows: 3 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An agreement entered into 5 under this section shall apply to weeks of unemploy- 6 ment— 7 ‘‘(A) beginning after the date on which 8 such agreement is entered into; and 9 ‘‘(B) ending on or before January 31, 10 2021. 11 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS RE- 12 MAINING ENTITLED TO REGULAR COMPENSATION AS 13 OF JANUARY 31, 2021.—In the case of any individual 14 who, as of the date specified in paragraph (1)(B), 15 has not yet exhausted all rights to regular com- 16 pensation under the State law of a State with re- 17 spect to a benefit year that began before such date, 18 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation 19 shall continue to be payable to such individual for 20 any week beginning on or after such date for which 21 the individual is otherwise eligible for regular com- 22 pensation with respect to such benefit year. 23 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding any 24 other provision of this subsection, no Federal Pan- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7762 IH demic Unemployment Compensation shall be payable 1 for any week beginning after July 31, 2021.’’. 2 (2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF TRANSI- 3 TION RULE.—Section 2104(g) of such Act is amend- 4 ed by inserting ‘‘(except for subsection (e)(2))’’ after 5 ‘‘the preceding provisions of this section’’. 6 (3) DISREGARD OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEM- 7 PLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN PUR- 8 POSES.—Section 2104(h) of such Act is amended to 9 read as follows: 10 ‘‘(h) DISREGARD OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEM- 11 PLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR PURPOSES OF ALL FED- 12 ERAL AND FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS.—A Federal 13 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payment shall 14 not be regarded as income and shall not be regarded as 15 a resource for the month of receipt and the following 9 16 months, for purposes of determining the eligibility of the 17 recipient (or the recipient’s spouse or family) for benefits 18 or assistance, or the amount or extent of benefits or assist- 19 ance, under any Federal program or under any State or 20 local program financed in whole or in part with Federal 21 funds.’’. 22 (b) EXTENSION AND BENEFIT PHASEOUT RULE FOR 23 PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE.—Section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7762 IH 2102(c) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021(c)) is amend- 1 ed— 2 (1) in paragraph (1)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and in- 4 serting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 5 (B) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 6 ‘‘December 31, 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘January 7 31, 2021’’; and 8 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para- 9 graph (4); and 10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(3) TRANSITION RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS RE- 13 MAINING ENTITLED TO PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT 14 ASSISTANCE AS OF JANUARY 31, 2021.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any in- 16 dividual who, as of the date specified in para- 17 graph (1)(A)(ii), is receiving Pandemic Unem- 18 ployment Assistance but has not yet exhausted 19 all rights to such assistance under this section, 20 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance shall con- 21 tinue to be payable to such individual for any 22 week beginning on or after such date for which 23 the individual is otherwise eligible for Pandemic 24 Unemployment Assistance. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7762 IH ‘‘(B) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding 1 any other provision of this subsection, no Pan- 2 demic Unemployment Assistance shall be pay- 3 able for any week beginning after October 31, 4 2021.’’. 5 (c) EXTENSION AND BENEFIT PHASEOUT RULE FOR 6 PANDEMIC EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSA- 7 TION.—Section 2107(g) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 8 9025(g)) is amended to read as follows: 9 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An agreement entered into 11 under this section shall apply to weeks of unemploy- 12 ment— 13 ‘‘(A) beginning after the date on which 14 such agreement is entered into; and 15 ‘‘(B) ending on or before January 31, 16 2021. 17 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS RE- 18 MAINING ENTITLED TO PANDEMIC EMERGENCY UN- 19 EMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION AS OF JANUARY 31, 20 2021.—In the case of any individual who, as of the 21 date specified in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), is receiving 22 Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation 23 but has not yet exhausted all rights to such assist- 24 ance under this section, Pandemic Emergency Un- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7762 IH employment Compensation shall continue to be pay- 1 able to such individual for any week beginning on or 2 after such date for which the individual is otherwise 3 eligible for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment 4 Compensation. 5 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding any 6 other provision of this subsection, no Pandemic 7 Emergency Unemployment Compensation shall be 8 payable for any week beginning after April 30, 9 2021.’’. 10 SEC. 3. BACK ON YOUR FEET PAY TO SUPPORT RETURN TO 11 WORK. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2104(b) of the CARES 13 Act (15 U.S.C. 9023(b)) is amended— 14 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 15 graph (3); and 16 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(2) BACK ON YOUR FEET PAY.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any agreement under 20 this section shall also provide that the State 21 agency of the State shall make a one-time pay- 22 ment in the amount of $3,600 to each indi- 23 vidual who— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7762 IH ‘‘(i) was eligible for Federal Pandemic 1 Unemployment Compensation under para- 2 graph (1) for any week beginning after the 3 date of enactment of the Back on Your 4 Feet Act of 2020; and 5 ‘‘(ii) is no longer so eligible (as deter- 6 mined by the State), as a result of earn- 7 ings due to commencing employment. 8 A payment made to an individual under this 9 subparagraph shall be made as soon as prac- 10 ticable after the last week for which the indi- 11 vidual is so eligible. In no case may an indi- 12 vidual receive more than one payment under 13 this subparagraph. 14 ‘‘(B) PERIOD OF INELIGIBILITY.—Not- 15 withstanding any other provision of this section, 16 an individual who receives a payment under 17 subparagraph (A) shall be ineligible for Federal 18 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation for a 19 6-week period beginning with the first week in 20 which the individual commenced employment as 21 described in such subparagraph. 22 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE.—Payments made 23 pursuant to an agreement under this paragraph 24 shall not be considered to violate the withdrawal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7762 IH requirements of section 303(a)(5) of the Social 1 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 503(a)(5)) or section 2 3304(a)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 3 1986. 4 ‘‘(D) TAX TREATMENT OF PAYMENT.— 5 Federal individual income tax attributable to a 6 payment under subparagraph (A) shall be de- 7 ducted and withheld from such payment at a 8 rate of 10 percent if an individual receiving 9 such payment makes a request to the State for 10 such deduction and withholding.’’. 11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2104 of 12 such Act is amended— 13 (1) by inserting ‘‘and payments under sub- 14 section (b)(2)’’ after ‘‘Federal Pandemic Unemploy- 15 ment Compensation’’ each place it appears in sub- 16 section (d) or (f) of such section; and 17 (2) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘, as such 18 provisions apply with respect to Federal Pandemic 19 Unemployment Compensation,’’ after ‘‘the preceding 20 provisions of this section’’. 21 (c) APPLICABILITY OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend- 22 ments made by this section shall apply only in the case 23 of States that receive an emergency administration grant 24 under section 903(j) of the Social Security Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7762 IH SEC. 4. STATE POLICIES ENSURING SAFE RETURN TO 1 WORK AND EMERGENCY TRANSFERS FOR UN- 2 EMPLOYMENT CLAIMS PROCESSING AND 3 BENEFIT ADMINISTRATION. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 903 of the Social Security 5 Act (42 U.S.C. 1103) is amended by adding at the end 6 the following: 7 ‘‘State Policies to Ensure Safe Return to Work and 8 Emergency Transfers for Administration 9 ‘‘(j)(1)(A) In addition to any other amounts, the Sec- 10 retary of Labor shall provide for the making of emergency 11 administration grants to the accounts of the States in the 12 Unemployment Trust Fund, by transfer from amounts re- 13 served for that purpose in the Federal unemployment ac- 14 count, in accordance with succeeding provisions of this 15 subsection. 16 ‘‘(B) The amount of an emergency administration 17 grant with respect to a State shall, as determined by the 18 Secretary of Labor, be equal to $2,000,000,000 multiplied 19 by the ratio that the amount certified for the base admin- 20 istrative grant to the State for fiscal year 2020 under sec- 21 tion 302(a) bears to the total amount certified for base 22 administrative grants to all States for fiscal year 2020 23 under such section. 24 ‘‘(C) The amount described in subparagraph (B) with 25 respect to a State shall be transferred to the account of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7762 IH such State upon a certification by the Secretary of Labor 1 to the Secretary of the Treasury that the State has pro- 2 vided documentation of policies, regulations, or laws dem- 3 onstrating that the State will, as a condition of the grant 4 at least through the end of calendar year 2021— 5 ‘‘(i) provide that if unreasonable health and 6 safety risks are present with respect to an employ- 7 ment position for an individual or any member of 8 the individual’s household, due to employer safety 9 policies or to specific risk factors of the individual or 10 member of the individual’s household (particularly in 11 the case of older, immunocompromised, or disabled 12 individuals), the presence of such risks constitutes 13 good cause— 14 ‘‘(I) for the individual to separate from 15 such employment position; and 16 ‘‘(II) in the case of an individual who is 17 unemployed, for refusing an offer of suitable 18 employment in such employment position (re- 19 gardless of whether such offer of employment 20 would pay wages that are equal to or greater 21 than the individual’s previous wages); and 22 ‘‘(ii) provide that in the case of individuals who 23 have received amounts of unemployment compensa- 24 tion to which they were not entitled, the State shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7762 IH require such individuals to repay the amounts of un- 1 employment compensation to the State agency, ex- 2 cept that the State agency shall waive such repay- 3 ment if it determines that— 4 ‘‘(I) the payment of such unemployment 5 compensation was without fault on the part of 6 any such individual; and 7 ‘‘(II) such repayment would be contrary to 8 equity and good conscience. 9 ‘‘(2) Any amount transferred to the account of a 10 State under this subsection may be used by such State 11 only for the administration of its unemployment com- 12 pensation law, including information technology systems 13 improvements and upgrades that enhance the user experi- 14 ence and timeliness of— 15 ‘‘(A) applying for benefits; 16 ‘‘(B) processing of benefits; 17 ‘‘(C) receiving benefits; and 18 ‘‘(D) implementing future policy changes in- 19 cluding flexibility in reprogramming. 20 A State shall conduct user testing of any such improve- 21 ments and upgrades in advance of full implementation to 22 ensure that they will meet each of the criteria described 23 in this paragraph, including during any potential surges 24 in the number of initial claims. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7762.IH H7762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7762 IH ‘‘(3) A State seeking a grant under this subsection 1 shall submit an application to the Secretary of Labor with 2 such information as the Secretary may require not later 3 than June 30, 2022. The Secretary of Labor shall assist 4 states in meeting the conditions of receiving the grant, in- 5 cluding by providing technical assistance and guidance. 6 ‘‘(4)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 7 the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from the gen- 8 eral fund of the Treasury (from funds not otherwise ap- 9 propriated) to the employment security administration ac- 10 count (as established by section 901 of the Social Security 11 Act) such sums as the Secretary of Labor estimates to 12 be necessary for purposes of making the transfers de- 13 scribed in paragraph (1)(C). 14 ‘‘(B) There are appropriated from the general fund 15 of the Treasury, without fiscal year limitation, the sums 16 referred to in the preceding sentence and [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]