American Worker Holiday Relief Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4935 To provide continued assistance to unemployed workers. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 30, 2020 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide continued assistance to unemployed workers. 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 Worker Holiday Relief 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. TITLE I—EXTENSIONS OF CARES ACT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR WORKERS Sec. 101. Extension of Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. Sec. 102. Extension of pandemic unemployment assistance. Sec. 103. Extension and expansion of the pandemic emergency unemployment compensation program. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4935 IS Sec. 104. Extension of temporary financing of short-time compensation pay- ments in States with programs in law. Sec. 105. Extension of temporary financing of short-time compensation agree- ments. Sec. 106. Extension of full Federal funding of the first week of compensable regular unemployment for States with no waiting week. TITLE II—TAX WITHHOLDING OPTION FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS Sec. 201. Application of FUTA requirement to permit individuals to request that Federal income tax be withheld. TITLE III—CLARIFICATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS TO PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE Sec. 301. Clarification of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance eligibility for primary caregiving. Sec. 302. Waiver authority for certain overpayments of Pandemic Unemploy- ment Assistance. Sec. 303. Clarification of access to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for workers at businesses that reduced staff due to the pandemic. Sec. 304. Hold Harmless for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Sec. 305. Clarification of access to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for workers with unsafe workplaces. Sec. 306. Clarification of access to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for workers who are self-quarantining in accordance with CDC guidelines. Sec. 307. Clarification of access to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for workers who had to reduce or suspend customary work activi- ties. Sec. 308. Clarification of continued access to Pandemic Unemployment Assist- ance. Sec. 309. State flexibility in establishing income. TITLE IV—EXTENSION OF RELIEF TO STATES AND EMPLOYERS Sec. 401. Extension of full Federal funding of extended unemployment com- pensation. Sec. 402. Extension of temporary assistance for States with advances. Sec. 403. Extension of emergency relief for governmental entities and nonprofit organizations. TITLE V—CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR PROCESSING BACKLOGS Sec. 501. State reporting on claims backlogs. TITLE VI—PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE FOR MIXED EARNERS Sec. 601. Coverage of mixed-income individuals. TITLE VII—TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS Sec. 701. Grace Period for Full Financing of Short-Time Compensation Pro- grams. Sec. 702. Technical correction for the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Is- lands. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4935 IS Sec. 703. Technical amendment relating to Pandemic Unemployment Assist- ance. TITLE I—EXTENSIONS OF CARES 1 ACT UNEMPLOYMENT BENE- 2 FITS FOR WORKERS 3 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEMPLOY- 4 MENT COMPENSATION. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2104(e) of division A of 6 the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9023(e)) is amended to read 7 as follows: 8 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An agreement entered into 10 under this section shall apply— 11 ‘‘(A) to weeks of unemployment beginning 12 after the date on which such agreement is en- 13 tered into and ending on or before July 31, 14 2020; and 15 ‘‘(B) to weeks of unemployment beginning 16 after September 5, 2020 (or, if later, the date 17 on which such agreement is entered into), and 18 ending on or before October 4, 2021. 19 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS RE- 20 MAINING ENTITLED TO REGULAR COMPENSATION AS 21 OF OCTOBER 4, 2021.—In the case of any individual 22 who, as of the date specified in paragraph (1)(B), 23 has not yet exhausted all rights to regular com- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4935 IS pensation under the State law of a State with re- 1 spect to a benefit year that began before such date, 2 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation 3 shall continue to be payable to such individual for 4 any week beginning on or after such date for which 5 the individual is otherwise eligible for regular com- 6 pensation with respect to such benefit year. 7 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding any 8 other provision of this subsection, no Federal Pan- 9 demic Unemployment Compensation shall be payable 10 for any week beginning after January 3, 2022.’’. 11 (b) DISREGARD OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEMPLOY- 12 MENT COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—Section 13 2104(h) of division A of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 14 9023(h)) is amended to read as follows: 15 ‘‘(h) DISREGARD OF FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEM- 16 PLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR PURPOSES OF ALL FED- 17 ERAL AND FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS.—A Federal 18 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payment shall 19 not be regarded as income and shall not be regarded as 20 a resource for the month of receipt and the following 9 21 months, for purposes of determining the eligibility of the 22 recipient (or the recipient’s spouse or family) for benefits 23 or assistance, or the amount or extent of benefits or assist- 24 ance, under any Federal program or under any State or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4935 IS local program financed in whole or in part with Federal 1 funds.’’. 2 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this section shall take effect as if included in the enact- 4 ment of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136). 5 SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT AS- 6 SISTANCE. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2102 of division A of the 8 CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021) is amended— 9 (1) in subsection (c)— 10 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking 11 ‘‘December 31, 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘the appli- 12 cable end date described in section 2107(g)(2)’’; 13 and 14 (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 15 follows: 16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON DURATION OF ASSIST- 17 ANCE.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The total number of 19 weeks for which a covered individual may re- 20 ceive assistance under this section shall not ex- 21 ceed 65 weeks and such total shall include any 22 week for which the covered individual received 23 regular compensation or extended benefits 24 under any Federal or State law, or pandemic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4935 IS emergency unemployment compensation under 1 section 2107, except that if after March 27, 2 2020, the extended benefit period or high un- 3 employment period is triggered under the Fed- 4 eral-State Extended Unemployment Compensa- 5 tion Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note) or an 6 emergency benefit period is triggered under sec- 7 tion 2107, the 65-week period described in this 8 paragraph shall be extended by— 9 ‘‘(i) in the case of an extended benefit 10 period or high unemployment period trig- 11 gered under the Federal-State Extended 12 Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, 13 the number of weeks that is equal to the 14 number of weeks of extended benefits 15 available under such Act in the State in 16 which the individual is filing; and 17 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an emergency ben- 18 efit period triggered under section 2107, 19 the number of weeks that is equal to the 20 additional number of weeks (through aug- 21 mentation) available under paragraphs (4), 22 (5), and (6) of section 2107(b) in the State 23 in which the individual is filing. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4935 IS ‘‘(B) EXTENSION OF ASSISTANCE.—For 1 the purpose of an extension of the 65-week pe- 2 riod under subparagraph (A), the following 3 rules shall apply: 4 ‘‘(i) TRANSITION PERIOD.— Section 5 2107(g)(3) shall apply to any extension of 6 assistance under subparagraph (A). 7 ‘‘(ii) ACCOUNTS AND 8 GRANDFATHERING.—In determining the 9 number of weeks available for a covered in- 10 dividual under an extension described in 11 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall 12 apply rules that are the same as the rules 13 described in paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) 14 of section 2107(b), including with respect 15 to accounts and grandfathering.’’; and 16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(i) UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CALCULATION FOR CER- 18 TAIN TERRITORIES.—In the case of Guam, American 19 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 20 lands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic 21 of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, the 22 following rules shall apply: 23 ‘‘(1) For the purposes of subsection 24 (c)(1)(A)(ii) of this section, the Secretary shall de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4935 IS termine the total unemployment rate of the territory 1 in a manner similar to the manner under section 2 2107(g)(2). 3 ‘‘(2) For the purpose of subsection (c)(2)(B) of 4 this section, the Secretary shall determine the total 5 unemployment rate of the territory in a manner 6 similar to the manner under paragraphs (4), (5), 7 and (6) of section 2107(b).’’. 8 (b) HOLD HARMLESS FOR PROPER ADMINISTRA- 9 TION.—In the case of an individual who is eligible to re- 10 ceive pandemic unemployment assistance under section 11 2102 of division A of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021) 12 as of the day before the date of enactment of this Act 13 and on the date of enactment of this Act becomes eligible 14 for pandemic emergency unemployment compensation 15 under section 2107 of division A of the CARES Act (15 16 U.S.C. 9025) by reason of the amendments made by sec- 17 tion 103(b) of this Act, any payment of pandemic unem- 18 ployment assistance under section such 2102 made after 19 the date of enactment of this Act to such individual during 20 an appropriate period of time, as determined by the Sec- 21 retary of Labor, that should have been made under such 22 section 2107 shall not be considered to be an overpayment 23 of assistance under such section 2102. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4935 IS SEC. 103. EXTENSION AND EXPANSION OF THE PANDEMIC 1 EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSA- 2 TION PROGRAM. 3 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 2107(g) of division A of 4 the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9025(g)) is amended to read 5 as follows: 6 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 8 and (3), an agreement entered into under this sec- 9 tion shall apply, with respect to a State, to weeks of 10 unemployment— 11 ‘‘(A) beginning after the date on which 12 such agreement is entered into; and 13 ‘‘(B) ending on or before the applicable 14 end date described in paragraph (2). 15 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE END DATE.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The applicable end 17 date described in this paragraph with respect to 18 a State is the first date (after the date the 19 State entered into an agreement under this sec- 20 tion) that the State has not been in an emer- 21 gency benefit period described in subparagraph 22 (B) for 13 consecutive weeks. 23 ‘‘(B) EMERGENCY BENEFIT PERIOD.—For 24 purposes of subparagraph (A), a State shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4935 IS considered to be in an emergency benefit period, 1 as of any given day, if— 2 ‘‘(i) an extended benefit period would 3 then be in effect for such State under the 4 Federal-State Extended Unemployment 5 Compensation Act of 1970 (26 U.S.C. 6 3304 note) if— 7 ‘‘(I) section 203(f) of such Act 8 were applied to such State (regardless 9 of whether the State by law had pro- 10 vided for such application); and 11 ‘‘(II) such section 203(f)— 12 ‘‘(aa) were applied by sub- 13 stituting ‘5.5’ for ‘6.5’ in para- 14 graph (1)(A)(i) thereof; and 15 ‘‘(bb) did not include the re- 16 quirement under paragraph 17 (1)(A)(ii) thereof; or 18 ‘‘(ii) the average national unemploy- 19 ment rate (seasonally adjusted) for the pe- 20 riod consisting of the most recent 3 21 months for which data for all States are 22 published before such day equals or ex- 23 ceeds 5.5 percent. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4935 IS ‘‘(3) TRANSITION FOR AMOUNT REMAINING IN 1 ACCOUNT.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 3 graph (B), in the case of an individual who has 4 amounts remaining in an account established 5 under subsection (b) as of the last day of the 6 last week (as determined in accordance with the 7 applicable State law) ending on or before the 8 applicable end date described in paragraph (2), 9 pandemic emergency unemployment compensa- 10 tion shall continue to be payable to such indi- 11 vidual from such amounts for any week begin- 12 ning after such date for which the individual 13 meets the eligibility requirements of this sec- 14 tion. 15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—No compensation shall 16 be payable by reason of paragraph (1) for any 17 week beginning after the date that is 13 weeks 18 after the applicable end date described in para- 19 graph (2).’’. 20 (b) EXPANSION.—Section 2107(b) of division A of 21 the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9025(b)) is amended— 22 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating 23 paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4935.IS S4935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4935 IS (2 [Text truncated for display. 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