78R7375 JMM-F

By:  Guillen                                                      H.B. No. 2698



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits.               
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Section 207.021, Labor Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	Sec. 207.021.  BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS.  [(a)] 
Except as provided by Chapter 215, an unemployed individual is 
eligible to receive benefits for a benefit period if the 
individual:
		(1)  has registered for work at an employment office 
and has continued to report to the employment office as required by 
rules adopted by the commission;
		(2)  has made a claim for benefits under Section 
208.001;                   
		(3)  is able to work;                                                         
		(4)  is available for work;                                                   
		(5)  for the individual's base period, has benefit wage 
credits:            
			(A)  in at least two calendar quarters; and                                  
			(B)  in an amount not less than 37 times the 
individual's benefit amount;  
		(6)  after the beginning date of the individual's most 
recent prior benefit year, if applicable, earned wages in an amount 
equal to not less than six times the individual's benefit amount; 
and
		(7)  [has been totally or partially unemployed for a 
waiting period of at least seven consecutive days; and
		[(8)]  participates in reemployment services, such as a 
job search assistance service, if the individual has been 
determined, according to a profiling system established by the 
commission, to be likely to exhaust eligibility for regular 
benefits and to need those services to obtain new employment, 
unless:
			(A)  the individual has completed participation 
in such a service; or      
			(B)  there is reasonable cause, as determined by 
the commission, for the individual's failure to participate in 
those services.
	[(b)  A week may not be counted as a waiting period week for 
the purposes of this section:
		[(1)  unless the individual has registered for work at 
an employment office in accordance with Subsection (a)(1);
		[(2)  unless it is after the filing of an initial claim;     
		[(3)  unless the individual reports at an office of the 
commission and certifies that the individual has met the waiting 
period requirements;
		[(4)  if benefits have been paid or are payable with 
respect to the week;
		[(5)  if the individual does not meet the eligibility 
requirements of Subsections (a)(3) and (a)(4); and
		[(6)  if the individual has been disqualified for 
benefits for the seven-day period under Section 207.044, 207.045, 
207.047, or 207.048.
	[(c)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, 
an individual who has been paid benefits in the individual's 
current benefit year equal to or exceeding three times the 
individual's benefit amount is eligible to receive benefits on the 
individual's waiting period claim in accordance with this 
subtitle.]
	SECTION 2.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies only to a claim for unemployment compensation benefits that 
is filed with the Texas Workforce Commission on or after that date.  
A claim filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on 
the date that the claim was filed, and the former law is continued 
in effect for that purpose.