83R6762 MAW-F
By: Smith H.B. No. 2141
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the imposition and collection of a penalty for
fraudulently obtaining unemployment compensation benefits.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 203.201(b), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The special administration fund consists of:
(1) all interest and penalties collected under this
subtitle, other than a penalty assessed under Section
214.003(a)(2);
(2) any amounts received under any surety bond for
losses sustained by the special administration fund; and
(3) money transferred under Section 203.103.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 214.003, Labor Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.003. FORFEITURE OR CANCELLATION OF BENEFITS PAID
AND REMAINING BENEFITS; PENALTY.
SECTION 3. Section 214.003, Labor Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read
as follows:
(a) If, by wilful nondisclosure or misrepresentation of a
material fact, whether the nondisclosure or misrepresentation is
made by the person or for the person by another, a person receives a
benefit when a condition imposed by this subtitle for the person's
qualifying for the benefit is not fulfilled or the person is
disqualified from receiving the benefit:
(1) [,] the person forfeits the:
(A) [(1)] benefit received; and
(B) [(2)] rights to benefits that remain in the
benefit year in which the nondisclosure or misrepresentation
occurred; and
(2) the commission shall require the person to pay a
penalty in an amount equal to 15 percent of the amount of the
benefits paid to the person as a result of the nondisclosure or
misrepresentation.
(c) A forfeiture, [or] cancellation, or penalty imposed
under this section is effective only after the person has been
afforded an opportunity for a fair hearing before the commission or
its duly designated representative.
(d) A person who is assessed a penalty by the commission
under Subsection (a)(2) is liable for the amount of the penalty.
The commission may collect the penalty in the same manner as
provided by Sections 213.031, 213.032, 213.033, 213.035, and
213.051 for the collection of past-due contributions. The
commission shall deposit a penalty assessed under Subsection (a)(2)
in the unemployment compensation fund established under Section
203.021.
SECTION 4. Section 214.003, Labor Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a final determination that a person received a
benefit due to a nondisclosure or misrepresentation made by the
Texas Workforce Commission or the commission's duly designated
representative on or after October 21, 2013. A final determination
made before October 21, 2013, is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.