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.