1-1  By:  Truan, West                                       S.B. No. 215
    1-2        (In the Senate - Filed January 12, 1995; January 18, 1995,
    1-3  read first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;
    1-4  February 8, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
    1-5  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0;
    1-6  February 8, 1995, sent to printer.)
    1-7  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 215                    By:  Ellis
    1-8                         A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-9                                AN ACT
   1-10  relating to the establishment of a self-employment assistance
   1-11  program.
   1-12        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
   1-13        SECTION 1.  Subtitle B, Title 4, Labor Code, is amended by
   1-14  adding Chapter 303 to read as follows:
   1-15           CHAPTER 303.  SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
   1-16        Sec. 303.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
   1-17              (1)  "Commission" means the Texas Employment
   1-18  Commission.
   1-19              (2)  "Regular benefits" means benefits payable under
   1-20  Subtitle A and benefits payable to federal civilian employees and
   1-21  former members of the United States Armed Forces under 5 U.S.C.
   1-22  Chapter 85.  The term does not include additional or extended
   1-23  benefits.
   1-24              (3)  "Self-employment assistance activities" means
   1-25  activities approved by the commission, including entrepreneurial
   1-26  training, business counseling, and technical assistance, in which
   1-27  an individual identified under this chapter participates for the
   1-28  purpose of establishing a business and becoming self-employed.
   1-29              (4)  "Self-employment assistance allowance" means an
   1-30  allowance payable under this chapter to an individual participating
   1-31  in self-employment assistance activities.
   1-32        Sec. 303.002.  ELIGIBILITY FOR SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
   1-33  ALLOWANCE.  (a)  An individual is eligible to receive a
   1-34  self-employment assistance allowance if the individual:
   1-35              (1)  is eligible to receive regular benefits or would
   1-36  be eligible to receive regular benefits but for a disqualification
   1-37  otherwise applicable under Section 207.021(a)(4) or Section
   1-38  207.047(a);
   1-39              (2)  is identified by a profiling system established by
   1-40  the commission as an individual likely to exhaust regular benefits;
   1-41              (3)  applies to participate in a program of
   1-42  self-employment assistance activities not later than the 60th day
   1-43  after the date the individual initially applied for regular
   1-44  benefits and provides the information required by the commission
   1-45  for that participation; and
   1-46              (4)  has, on the date of application under Subdivision
   1-47  (3):
   1-48                    (A)  a balance of regular benefits equal to not
   1-49  less than 18 times the individual's weekly benefit amount; and
   1-50                    (B)  not less than 18 weeks remaining in the
   1-51  individual's benefit year.
   1-52        (b)  The commission shall pay a self-employment assistance
   1-53  allowance, subject to the limitation imposed under Section 303.005,
   1-54  to an eligible individual who:
   1-55              (1)  has been accepted into a program approved by the
   1-56  commission that provides self-employment assistance activities;
   1-57              (2)  is participating in self-employment assistance
   1-58  activities;
   1-59              (3)  is actively engaged on a full-time basis in
   1-60  activities, which may include training, related to establishing a
   1-61  business and becoming self-employed;
   1-62              (4)  files a weekly claim with the commission for the
   1-63  self-employment assistance allowance; and
   1-64              (5)  provides information required by the commission,
   1-65  including a log of self-employment activities in which the
   1-66  individual has participated.
   1-67        (c)  Except as otherwise provided by this section, a
   1-68  self-employment assistance allowance is payable to an individual at
    2-1  the same interval and is subject to the same terms and conditions
    2-2  as regular benefits.
    2-3        (d)  Income from self-employment earned by an individual is
    2-4  not required to be reported and may not be considered by the
    2-5  commission for the purposes of Section 207.003.
    2-6        (e)  An individual who meets the requirements of this section
    2-7  is unemployed for the purposes of Subtitle A.
    2-8        Sec. 303.003.  DISQUALIFICATION.  An individual who fails to
    2-9  participate in self-employment assistance activities or who fails
   2-10  to actively engage on a full-time basis in activities, including
   2-11  training, related to establishing a business and becoming
   2-12  self-employed is disqualified from the self-employment assistance
   2-13  allowance for the benefit period during which the disqualification
   2-14  occurs.
   2-15        Sec. 303.004.  AMOUNT OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
   2-16  ALLOWANCE.  (a)  The weekly amount payable under this chapter to an
   2-17  eligible individual is equal to the weekly benefit amount for
   2-18  regular benefits otherwise payable to the individual under Section
   2-19  207.002.
   2-20        (b)  The total of the allowance paid under this section and
   2-21  the regular benefits paid under Subtitle A with respect to an
   2-22  individual's benefit year may not exceed the maximum amount
   2-23  established under Section 207.005.
   2-24        Sec. 303.005.  LIMITATION ON SCOPE OF PROGRAM.  (a)  The
   2-25  number of individuals who receive a self-employment assistance
   2-26  allowance under this chapter at any time may not exceed five
   2-27  percent of the total number of individuals receiving regular
   2-28  benefits under Subtitle A.
   2-29        (b)  The commission shall adopt rules as necessary to enforce
   2-30  this section.
   2-31        Sec. 303.006.  PROGRAM FINANCING.  Self-employment assistance
   2-32  allowances paid under this chapter shall be charged to employers in
   2-33  the same manner provided under Subtitle A for the charging of
   2-34  regular benefits.
   2-35        Sec. 303.007.  RULES; COMMISSION DUTIES.  (a)  The commission
   2-36  may adopt rules to implement this chapter, including rules relating
   2-37  to:
   2-38              (1)  criteria for the approval of programs that provide
   2-39  self-employment assistance activities;
   2-40              (2)  eligibility for acceptance in and standards for
   2-41  participation in a program; and
   2-42              (3)  the review and appeal process for a determination
   2-43  of individual eligibility for a self-employment assistance
   2-44  allowance.
   2-45        (b)  The commission shall develop a profiling system to
   2-46  identify individuals likely to exhaust regular benefits who may be
   2-47  eligible to participate in a program of self-employment assistance
   2-48  activities under this chapter.
   2-49        Sec. 303.008.  PROGRAM APPROVAL.  In approving a program that
   2-50  provides self-employment assistance activities, the commission
   2-51  shall attempt to identify and give priority treatment to existing
   2-52  training programs.
   2-53        SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
   2-54  applies only to weeks beginning after that date or weeks beginning
   2-55  after the date the United States Department of Labor approves a
   2-56  plan required by that department, whichever date is later.
   2-57        (b)  This Act expires at the end of the week preceding the
   2-58  date federal law no longer authorizes a self-employment assistance
   2-59  program, unless that date is a Saturday, in which case this Act
   2-60  expires on that date.
   2-61        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-62  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-63  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-64  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-65  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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