No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5548 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5548
To amend title III of the Social Security Act to improve the accuracy
of payment of unemployment compensation benefits, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 17 (legislative day, December 16), 2024
Mr. Lankford (for himself and Mrs. Blackburn) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title III of the Social Security Act to improve the accuracy
of payment of unemployment compensation benefits, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Eliminate Fraudulent Unemployment
Insurance Benefits Act''.
SEC. 2. TIMING OF PAYMENTS TO CERTAIN CONTINUED CLAIMANTS.
(a) In General.--Section 303 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
503) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``Such methods of
administration'' and inserting ``Subject to subsection (n),
such methods of administration''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(n) Timing of Payments to Certain Continued Claimants.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of determining when
unemployment compensation is due under subsection (a)(1), in
the case of a continued claimant who has been determined
ineligible by the State agency and such determination is in the
appeal process, the State agency shall withhold unemployment
compensation benefits otherwise payable to such individual
until the date on which--
``(A) the individual's appeal is no longer pending
before the State; and
``(B) the State agency determines that such
individual is eligible for such payment.
``(2) Payment upon determination.--For purposes of
paragraph (1)(B), if a State agency determines that a claimant
is eligible for unemployment compensation benefits, the State
agency shall pay to the claimant within 5 business days the
benefits withheld from the claimant in accordance with
paragraph (1).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The requirements of subsection (a) shall apply
to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after the earlier of--
(1) the date the State changes its statutes, regulations,
or policies in order to comply with such requirements; or
(2) the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 3. GUIDANCE ON DENYING OR REVOKING ELIGIBILITY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT
COMPENSATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor (in this section referred
to as the ``Secretary''), in coordination with the Inspector General of
the Department of Labor (in this section referred to as the ``Inspector
General''), shall issue guidance for States regarding best practices
for denying eligibility for unemployment compensation for initial
claimants and declaring continued claimants ineligible.
(b) Considerations.--In issuing the guidance under subsection (a),
the Secretary and the Inspector General shall consider the following:
(1) Accepted rationales for ineligibility determinations,
including--
(A) fraudulent activity, such as any dishonest
response, use of a synthetic identity, or certification
of inaccurate or deceptive personally-identifiable
information;
(B) nonresponse; or
(C) any other rationale determined appropriate by
the Secretary and the Inspector General.
(2) Specific examples of each accepted rationale identified
under paragraph (1).
(3) The level of risk associated with each accepted
rationale identified under paragraph (1).
(4) Any other considerations determined appropriate by the
Secretary and the Inspector General.
(c) Updates.--The Secretary, in coordination with the Inspector
General, shall update the guidance issued under subsection (a) not less
than once every 3 years.
(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Dishonest response.--The term ``dishonest response''
means, with respect to a response from a claimant to file an
initial claim or a claim for continued eligibility for
unemployment compensation, a response that--
(A) is untrue; and
(B) may include false personally-identifiable
information, reporting of earnings, or employment
history.
(2) Personally-identifiable information.--The term
``personally-identifiable information'' means information that
is linked or reasonably linkable to an individual, such as a
physical address, place of residency, phone number, driver's
license number, social security number, employee identification
number, identification number provided by the State, or any
other information determined appropriate by the Secretary of
Labor.
(3) Synthetic identity.--The term ``synthetic identity''
means, with respect to a claim for unemployment compensation,
an identity that is used by a claimant to fraudulently apply
for such compensation that--
(A) does not reflect a real individual; and
(B) may use real or seemingly real personally-
identifiable information.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line