ATTACHMENT II TO UIPL 19-88
TEXT OF SECTION 9152
PUBLIC LAW 100-203
SEC. 9152. DBMONSTRATION
PROGRAM TO PROVIDE SBLF-EMPLOYMBNT ALLOWANCES FOR ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.
(a)
IN GENERAL.-- The Secretary of Labor (hereinafter in this section
referred to as the "Secretary") shall carry out a demonstration program
under this section for the purpose of making available self-employment
allowances to eligible individuals. To carry out such program, the
Secretary shall enter into agreements with three States that --
(1) apply to participate in such program, and
(2) demonstrate to the Secretary that they are capable of implementing
the provisions of the agreement.
(b)
SELECTION OF STATES. -- (1) In determining whether to enter into an agreement
with a State under this section, the Secretary shall take into consideration
at least --
(A) the availability and quality of technical assistance currently provided
by agencies of the
State to the self-employed;
(B) existing local market conditions and the business climate for new,
small business enterprises in the State;
(C) the adequacy of State resources to carry out a regular unemployment
compensation program and a program under this section;
(D) the range and extent of
specialized services
to be provided by the State to individuals covered by such an agreement;
(E) the design of the evaluation to be applied by the State to the program;
and
(F) the standards which are to be utilized by the State for the purpose
of assuring
that individuals who will receive self-employment assistance under this
section will have sufficient experience (or training) and ability to be
self-employed.
(2)
The Secretary may not enter into an agreement with any State under this
section unless the Secretary makes a determination that the State's unemployment
compensation program has adequate reserves.
(c)
PROVISIONS OF AGREEMENTS.-- Any agreement entered into with a State under
this section shall provide that --
(1) each individual who is an eligible individual with respect to
any benefit year beginning during the three-year period commencing on the
date on which such agreement is entered into shall receive a self-employment
allowance;
(2) self-employment allowances made to any individual under this section
shall be made in the same amount, on the same terms, and subject to the
same conditions as regular or extended unemployment compensation, as the
case may be, paid by such State; except that --
(A) State and Federal requirements relating to availability for work, active
search for work, or refusal to accept suitable work shall not apply to
such individual; and
(B) such individual shall be considered to be unemployed for purposes of
the State and Federal laws applicable to unemployment compensation,
as long as the individual
meets the requirements applicable under this section to such individual;
(3) to the extent that such allowances
are made to an individual under this section, an amount equal to the amount
of such allowances shall be charged against the amount that may be paid
to such individual under State law for regular or extended unemployment
compensation, as the case may be;
(4) the total amount paid to an individual with respect to any benefit
year under this section may not exceed the total amount that could be paid
to such individual for regular or extended unemployment compensation, as
the case may be, with respect to such benefit year under State law;
(5) the State shall implement a program that --
(A) is approved by the Secretary;
(B) will not result in any cost to the Unemployment Trust Fund established
by section 904(a) of the Social Security Act in excess of the cost which
would have been incurred by such State and charged to such Fund if the
State had not participated in the demonstration program under this section;
(C) is designed to select and assist individuals for self-employment allowances,
monitor the individual's self-employment, and provide, as described in
subsection (d), to the Secretary a complete evaluation of the use of such
allowances; and
(D) otherwise meets the requirements of this section; and
(6) the State, from its general revenue funds, shall --
(A) repay to the Unemployment Trust Fund any cost incurred by the State
and charged to the Fund which exceeds the cost which would have been incurred
by such State and charged to such Fund if the State had not participated
in the demonstration
program under this section;
and
(B) in any case in which any excess cost described in subparagraph (A)
is not repaid in the fiscal year in which it was charged to the Fund, pay
to the Fund an amount of interest, on the outstanding balance of such excess
cost, which is sufficient (when combined with any repayment by the State
described in subparagrph (A)) to reimburse the Fund for any loss which
would not have been incurred if such excess cost had not been incurred.
(d)
EVALUATION.-- (1) Each State that enters into an agreement under this section
shall carry out an evaluation of its activities under this section.
Such evaluation shall be based on an experimental design with random assignment
between a treatment group and a control group with not more than one-half
of the
individuals receiving assistance at any one time being assigned to the
treatment group.
(2)
The Secretary shall use the data provided from such evaluation to analyze
the benefits and the costs of the program carried out under this section,
to formulate the reports under subsection (g), and to estimate any excess
costs described to subsection (c)(6)(A).
(e)
FINANCING -- (1) Notwithstanding section 303(a)(5) of the Social Security
Act and section 3304(a)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, amounts
in the unemployment fund of a State may be used by a State to make payments
(exclusive of expenses of administration) for self-employment allowances
made under this section to an individual who is receiving them in lieu
of regular unemployment compensation.
(2)
In any case in which a self-employment allowance is made under this section
to an individual in lieu of extended unemployment compensation under the
Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, payments
made under this section for self-employment allowances shall be considered
to be compensation described in section 204(a)(1) of such Act and paid
under State law.
(f)
LIMITATION. -- No funds made available to a State under title III of the
Social Security Act or any other Federal law may be used for the purpose
of administering the program carried out by such State under this section.
(g)
REPORT TO CONGRESS -- (1) Not later than two years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit
an interim report to the Congress on the effectiveness of the demonstration
program carried out under this section. Such report shall include
--
(A) information on the extent to which this section has been utilized;
(B) an analysis of any barriers to such utilization; and
(C) an analysis of the feasibility of extending the provisions of this
section to individuals not covered by State unemployment compensation laws.
(2)
Not later than four years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary shall submit a final report to the Congress on such program.
(h)
FRAUD AND OVERPAYMENTS.-- (1) If an individual knowingly has made, or caused
to be made by another, a false statement or representation
of a material fact, or knowingly has failed, or caused another to fail,
to disclose a material fact, and as a result of such false statement or
representation or of such nondisclosure such individual has received payment
under this section to which he was not entitled, such individual shall
be --
(A) ineligible for further assistance under this section; and
(B) subject to prosecution under section 1001 of title 18, United States
Code.
(2)(A)
If any person received any payment under this section to which such person
was not entitled, the State is authorized to require such person to repay
such assistance; except that the State agency may waive such repayment
if it determines that --
(i) the providing of such assistance or making of such payment was
without fault on the part of such person; and
(ii) such repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience.
(B)
No repayment shall be required under subparagraph (A) until a determination
has been made, notice thereof and an opportunity for a fair hearing has
been given to the person, and the determination has become final.
Any determination under such subparagraph shall be subject to review in
the same manner and to the same extent as determinations under the State
unemployment compcnsation law, and only in that manner and to that extent.
(i)
DEFINITIONS. -- For purposes of this
section --
(1) the term "eligible individual" means, with respect to any benefit year,
an individual who --
(A) is eligible to receive regular or extended compensation under the State
law during such benefit year;
(B) is likely to receive unemployment compensation for the maximum number
of weeks that such compensation is made
available under the State law during such benefit year;
(C) submits an application to the State agency for a self-employment allowance
under this section; and
(D) meets applicable State requirements,
except that not more
than (i) 3 percent of the number of individuals eligible to receive
regular compensation in a State at the beginning of a fiscal year, or (ii)
the number of persons who exhausted their unemployment compensation benefits
in the fiscal year ending before such fiscal year, whichever is lesser,
may be considered as eligible individuals for such State for purposes of
this section during such fiscal year;
(2) the term "self-employment allowance" means compensation paid under
this section for the purpose of assisting an eligible individual with such
individual's self-employment; and
(3) the terms "compensation"; "extended compensation", "regular compensation",
"benefit year", "State", and "State Law", have the respective meanings
given to such terms by section 205 of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment
Compensation Act of 1970.