88R14121 RDS-F
 
  By: Birdwell S.B. No. 1689
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to claimant eligibility and initial claims under the
  unemployment compensation system.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 207.021(a), Labor Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (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)  is actively seeking work in accordance with rules
  adopted by the commission;
               (6)  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;
               (7)  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;
               (8)  has been totally or partially unemployed for a
  waiting period of at least seven consecutive days; [and]
               (9)  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; and
               (10)  has satisfied any outstanding obligation in
  relation to benefits improperly received by the individual as a
  result of a wilful nondisclosure or misrepresentation of a material
  fact described by Section 214.003, including the amount of any
  penalty assessed against the individual under that section, but
  only if the benefit period for which the individual is seeking
  benefits is not in the same benefit year in which the nondisclosure
  or misrepresentation of a material fact occurred.
         SECTION 2.  Section 208.002(a), Labor Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  When used in connection with an initial claim, "last
  work" and "person for whom the claimant last worked" refer to [:
               [(1)  the last person for whom the claimant actually
  worked, if the claimant worked for that person for at least 30 hours
  during a week; or
               [(2)]  the employer, as defined by Subchapter C,
  Chapter 201, [or by the unemployment law of any other state,] for
  whom the claimant last worked.
         SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a claim for unemployment compensation benefits 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.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.