By:  Truan, West                                       S.B. No. 215
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the establishment of a self-employment assistance
    1-2  program.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Subtitle B, Title 4, Labor Code, is amended by
    1-5  adding Chapter 303 to read as follows:
    1-6           CHAPTER 303.  SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
    1-7        Sec. 303.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
    1-8              (1)  "Commission" means the Texas Employment
    1-9  Commission.
   1-10              (2)  "Regular benefits" means benefits payable under
   1-11  Subtitle A and benefits payable to federal civilian employees and
   1-12  former members of the United States Armed Forces under 5 U.S.C.
   1-13  Chapter 85.  The term does not include additional or extended
   1-14  benefits.
   1-15              (3)  "Self-employment assistance activities" means
   1-16  activities approved by the commission, including entrepreneurial
   1-17  training, business counseling, and technical assistance, in which
   1-18  an individual identified under this chapter participates for the
   1-19  purpose of establishing a business and becoming self-employed.
   1-20              (4)  "Self-employment assistance allowance" means an
   1-21  allowance payable under this chapter to an individual participating
   1-22  in self-employment assistance activities.
   1-23        Sec. 303.002.  ELIGIBILITY FOR SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
   1-24  ALLOWANCE.  (a)  An individual is eligible to receive a
    2-1  self-employment assistance allowance if the individual:
    2-2              (1)  is eligible to receive regular benefits or would
    2-3  be eligible to receive regular benefits but for a disqualification
    2-4  otherwise applicable under Section 207.021(a)(4) or Section
    2-5  207.047(a);
    2-6              (2)  is identified by a profiling system established by
    2-7  the commission as an individual likely to exhaust regular benefits;
    2-8              (3)  applies to participate in a program of
    2-9  self-employment assistance activities not later than the 60th day
   2-10  after the date the individual initially applied for regular
   2-11  benefits and provides the information required by the commission
   2-12  for that participation; and
   2-13              (4)  has, on the date of application under Subdivision
   2-14  (3):
   2-15                    (A)  a balance of regular benefits equal to not
   2-16  less than 18 times the individual's weekly benefit amount; and
   2-17                    (B)  not less than 18 weeks remaining in the
   2-18  individual's benefit year.
   2-19        (b)  The commission shall pay a self-employment assistance
   2-20  allowance, subject to the limitation imposed under Section 303.005,
   2-21  to an eligible individual who:
   2-22              (1)  has been accepted into a program approved by the
   2-23  commission that provides self-employment assistance activities;
   2-24              (2)  is participating in self-employment assistance
   2-25  activities;
   2-26              (3)  is actively engaged on a full-time basis in
   2-27  activities, which may include training, related to establishing a
    3-1  business and becoming self-employed;
    3-2              (4)  files a weekly claim with the commission for the
    3-3  self-employment assistance allowance; and
    3-4              (5)  provides information required by the commission,
    3-5  including a log of self-employment activities in which the
    3-6  individual has participated.
    3-7        (c)  Except as otherwise provided by this section, a
    3-8  self-employment assistance allowance is payable to an individual at
    3-9  the same interval and is subject to the same terms and conditions
   3-10  as regular benefits.
   3-11        (d)  Income from self-employment earned by an individual is
   3-12  not required to be reported and may not be considered by the
   3-13  commission for the purposes of Section 207.003.
   3-14        (e)  An individual who meets the requirements of this section
   3-15  is unemployed for the purposes of Subtitle A.
   3-16        Sec. 303.003.  DISQUALIFICATION.  An individual who fails to
   3-17  participate in self-employment assistance activities or who fails
   3-18  to actively engage on a full-time basis in activities, including
   3-19  training, related to establishing a business and becoming
   3-20  self-employed is disqualified from the self-employment assistance
   3-21  allowance for the benefit period during which the disqualification
   3-22  occurs.
   3-23        Sec. 303.004.  AMOUNT OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
   3-24  ALLOWANCE.  (a)  The weekly amount payable under this chapter to an
   3-25  eligible individual is equal to the weekly benefit amount for
   3-26  regular benefits otherwise payable to the individual under Section
   3-27  207.002.
    4-1        (b)  The total of the allowance paid under this section and
    4-2  the regular benefits paid under Subtitle A with respect to an
    4-3  individual's benefit year may not exceed the maximum amount
    4-4  established under Section 207.005.
    4-5        Sec. 303.005.  LIMITATION ON SCOPE OF PROGRAM.  (a)  The
    4-6  number of individuals who receive a self-employment assistance
    4-7  allowance under this chapter at any time may not exceed five
    4-8  percent of the total number of individuals receiving regular
    4-9  benefits under Subtitle A.
   4-10        (b)  The commission shall adopt rules as necessary to enforce
   4-11  this section.
   4-12        (c)  The commission shall be authorized to enter into
   4-13  interagency agreements with other state agencies to facilitate the
   4-14  goals of this program.  Those goals include technical assistance as
   4-15  well as assistance with accessing capital, bonding, or any other
   4-16  needs necessary for small business success.
   4-17        Sec. 303.006.  PROGRAM FINANCING.  Self-employment assistance
   4-18  allowances paid under this chapter shall be charged to employers in
   4-19  the same manner provided under Subtitle A for the charging of
   4-20  regular benefits.
   4-21        Sec. 303.007.  RULES; COMMISSION DUTIES.  (a)  The commission
   4-22  may adopt rules to implement this chapter, including rules relating
   4-23  to:
   4-24              (1)  criteria for the approval of programs that provide
   4-25  self-employment assistance activities;
   4-26              (2)  eligibility for acceptance in and standards for
   4-27  participation in a program; and
    5-1              (3)  the review and appeal process for a determination
    5-2  of individual eligibility for a self-employment assistance
    5-3  allowance.
    5-4        (b)  The commission shall develop a profiling system to
    5-5  identify individuals likely to exhaust regular benefits who may be
    5-6  eligible to participate in a program of self-employment assistance
    5-7  activities under this chapter.
    5-8        Sec. 303.008.  PROGRAM APPROVAL.  In approving a program that
    5-9  provides self-employment assistance activities, the commission
   5-10  shall attempt to identify and give priority treatment to existing
   5-11  training programs.
   5-12        SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
   5-13  applies only to weeks beginning after that date or weeks beginning
   5-14  after the date the United States Department of Labor approves a
   5-15  plan required by that department, whichever date is later.
   5-16        (b)  This Act expires at the end of the week preceding the
   5-17  date federal law no longer authorizes a self-employment assistance
   5-18  program, unless that date is a Saturday, in which case this Act
   5-19  expires on that date.
   5-20        (c)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b) of this section, this Act
   5-21  expires December 8, 1998.
   5-22        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   5-23  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   5-24  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   5-25  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   5-26  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.