Amend CSSB 1811 (house committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered ARTICLE to the bill and renumbering subsequent ARTICLES and SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:

ARTICLE _____. UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION

SECTION ____.01. The legislature finds that the changes in law made by this article would improve the economy in this state by helping unemployed workers avoid precipitous drops in spending that are frequently associated with the loss of gainful employment. The legislature also finds that the changes in law made by this article would improve the economy of this state by helping unemployed workers avoid mortgage defaults and the resulting foreclosures.

SECTION ____.02.  Section 204.022(a), Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a)  Benefits computed on benefit wage credits of an employee or former employee may not be charged to the account of an employer if the employee's last separation from the employer's employment before the employee's benefit year:

(1)  was required by a federal statute;

(2)  was required by a statute of this state or an ordinance of a municipality of this state;

(3)  would have disqualified the employee under Section 207.044, 207.045, 207.051, or 207.053 if the employment had been the employee's last work;

(4)  imposes a disqualification under Section 207.044, 207.045, 207.051, or 207.053;

(5)  was caused by a medically verifiable illness of the employee or the employee's minor child;

(6)  was based on a natural disaster that results in a disaster declaration by the president of the United States under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.), if the employee would have been entitled to unemployment assistance benefits under Section 410 of that act (42 U.S.C. Section 5177) had the employee not received state unemployment compensation benefits;

(7)  was caused by a natural disaster, fire, flood, or explosion that causes employees to be separated from one employer's employment;

(8)  was based on a disaster that results in a disaster declaration by the governor under Section 418.014, Government Code;

(9)  resulted from the employee's resigning from partial employment to accept other employment that the employee reasonably believed would increase the employee's weekly wage;

(10)  was caused by the employer being called to active military service in any branch of the United States armed forces on or after January 1, 2003;

(11)  resulted from the employee leaving the employee's workplace to protect the employee from family violence or stalking or the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family from violence related to a sexual assault as evidenced by:

(A)  an active or recently issued protective order documenting sexual assault of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee or the potential for family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee;

(B)  a police record documenting sexual assault of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee; [or]

(C)  a physician's statement or other medical documentation that describes the sexual assault of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence against the employee that:

(i)  is recorded in any form or medium that identifies the employee or member of the employee's immediate family, as applicable, as the patient; and

(ii)  relates to the history, diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis of the patient; or

(12)  resulted from a move from the area of the employee's employment that:

(A)  was made with the employee's spouse who is a member of the armed forces of the United States; and

(B)  resulted from the spouse's permanent change of station of longer than 120 days or a tour of duty of longer than one year;

(13)  was caused by the employee being unable to perform the work as a result of a disability for which the employee is receiving disability insurance benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section 423; or

(14)  resulted from the employee leaving the employee's workplace to care for the employee's terminally ill spouse as evidenced by a physician's statement or other medical documentation, but only if no reasonable, alternative care was available.

SECTION ____.03.  Section 204.022(d), Labor Code, is amended by adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and (5) to read as follows:

SECTION ____.04.  Section 207.046(a), Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a)  An individual is not disqualified for benefits under this subchapter if:

(1)  the work-related reason for the individual's separation from employment was urgent, compelling, and necessary so as to make the separation involuntary;

(2)  the individual leaves the workplace to protect the individual from family violence or stalking or the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family from violence related to a sexual assault as evidenced by:

(A)  an active or recently issued protective order documenting sexual assault of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee or the potential for family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee;

(B)  a police record documenting sexual assault of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee; [or]

(C)  a physician's statement or other medical documentation that describes the sexual assault of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence against the employee that:

(i)  is recorded in any form or medium that identifies the employee or member of the employee's immediate family, as applicable, as the patient; and

(ii)  relates to the history, diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis of the patient; or

(3)  the individual leaves the workplace to care for the individual's terminally ill spouse as evidenced by a physician's statement or other medical documentation, but only if no reasonable, alternative care was available.

SECTION ____.05.  Section 207.046(c), Labor Code, is amended by adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and (5) to read as follows:

SECTION ____.06.  The changes in law made by this article apply only to eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits based on an unemployment compensation claim that is filed with the Texas Workforce Commission on or after the effective date of this Act. A claim filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the claim was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.