By Yarbrough                                           H.B. No. 694
         77R4168 PB-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits of
 1-3     certain sheltered workshop employees who are blind.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 201.067, Labor Code, is amended to read as
 1-6     follows:
 1-7           Sec. 201.067.  REHABILITATIVE SERVICE; WORK RELIEF; EXCEPTION
 1-8     FOR SERVICES PERFORMED BY CERTAIN BLIND INDIVIDUALS.  (a) In this
 1-9     subtitle, "employment" does not include service performed by an
1-10     individual who:
1-11                 (1)  receives [service performed by an individual
1-12     receiving] rehabilitative work or paying work in the employ of a
1-13     facility that:
1-14                       (A)  is conducted to carry [for the purpose of
1-15     carrying] out a program of rehabilitation for individuals whose
1-16     earning capacity is impaired by:
1-17                             (i)  age;
1-18                             (ii)  [,] physical impairment, other than
1-19     blindness; or
1-20                             (iii)   mental deficiency or injury; or
1-21                       (B)  [that] provides paying work for individuals
1-22     who, because of their impaired physical or mental capacity, cannot
1-23     be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market; [or]
1-24                 (2)  is blind while the individual is in training at a
 2-1     sheltered workshop operated by a charitable organization under a
 2-2     rehabilitation program that includes:
 2-3                       (A)  an individual plan for employment as
 2-4     required by 29 U.S.C. Section 722, as amended;
 2-5                       (B)  a timeline for completion of the training;
 2-6     and
 2-7                       (C)  a planned employment outcome; or
 2-8                 (3)  receives work relief or work training [service
 2-9     performed] as a part of an unemployment work-relief or
2-10     work-training program assisted or financed in whole or in part by a
2-11     federal agency, an agency of a state, or a political subdivision of
2-12     a state [by an individual receiving the work relief or work
2-13     training].
2-14           (b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), in this subtitle
2-15     "employment" includes service performed by an individual who is
2-16     blind and who, after training, is working for a sheltered workshop
2-17     operated by a charitable organization:
2-18                 (1)  temporarily while awaiting placement in a position
2-19     of employment in the competitive labor market; or
2-20                 (2)  permanently because the individual is unable to
2-21     compete in the competitive labor market.
2-22           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
2-23     applies only to a claim for unemployment compensation benefits that
2-24     is filed with the Texas Workforce Commission on or after that date.
2-25     A claim filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on
2-26     the date that the claim was filed, and the former law is continued
2-27     in effect for that purpose.