Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3697 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
	1	+	87R10497 SGM-D
1	2		By: Hernandez, Guillen H.B. No. 3697
2	3
3	4
4	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	6		AN ACT
6	7		relating to the eligibility for unemployment compensation of
7		-	certain employees who leave the workplace to care for a minor child
8		-	and to a requirement that the Texas Workforce Commission pilot the
9		-	use of certain third-party employment and income information to
10		-	assist with determining unemployment benefit eligibility.
	8	+	certain employees who leave the workplace to care for a minor child.
11	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	10		SECTION 1. Section 207.046(a), Labor Code, is amended to
13	11		read as follows:
14	12		(a) An individual is not disqualified for benefits under
15	13		this subchapter if:
16	14		(1) the work-related reason for the individual's
17	15		separation from employment was urgent, compelling, and necessary so
18	16		as to make the separation involuntary;
19	17		(2) the individual leaves the workplace to protect the
20	18		individual from family violence or stalking or the individual or a
21	19		member of the individual's immediate family from violence related
22	20		to a sexual assault as evidenced by:
23	21		(A) an active or recently issued protective order
24	22		documenting sexual assault of the individual or a member of the
25	23		individual's immediate family or family violence against, or the
26	24		stalking of, the individual or the potential for family violence
27	25		against, or the stalking of, the individual;
28	26		(B) a police record documenting sexual assault of
29	27		the individual or a member of the individual's immediate family or
30	28		family violence against, or the stalking of, the individual;
31	29		(C) a physician's statement or other medical
32	30		documentation that describes the sexual assault of the individual
33	31		or a member of the individual's immediate family or family violence
34	32		against the individual that:
35	33		(i) is recorded in any form or medium that
36	34		identifies the individual or member of the individual's immediate
37	35		family, as applicable, as the patient; and
38	36		(ii) relates to the history, diagnosis,
39	37		treatment, or prognosis of the patient; or
40	38		(D) written documentation from a family violence
41	39		center or rape crisis center that describes the sexual assault of
42	40		the individual or a member of the individual's immediate family or
43	41		family violence against the individual; [or]
44	42		(3) the individual leaves the workplace to care for
45	43		the individual's terminally ill spouse as evidenced by a
46	44		physician's statement or other medical documentation, but only if
47	45		no reasonable, alternative care was available; or
48	46		(4) the individual leaves the workplace to care for
49	47		the individual's minor child due to an unexpected illness,
50	48		accident, or other unforeseeable event, but only if no reasonable,
51	49		alternative care was available.
52		-	SECTION 2. (a) In this section, "real-time employment and
53		-	income information" means up-to-date, non-modeled employment and
54		-	income data provided by employers and payroll providers.
55		-	(b) In order to improve the timeliness of unemployment
56		-	compensation payments, operational efficiencies, and cost savings
57		-	and to minimize fraud, the Texas Workforce Commission shall
58		-	participate in a no-cost pilot by which the commission shall obtain
59		-	real-time employment and income information from a third-party
60		-	commercial consumer reporting agency, in accordance with the
61		-	federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1681 et seq.),
62		-	for the purpose of assisting with the determination of an
63		-	individual's eligibility to receive unemployment benefits,
64		-	including to conduct an analysis on the pilot.
65		-	(c) The Texas Workforce Commission shall report on the value
66		-	of integrating real-time employment and income information into
67		-	existing verification and eligibility determination procedures and
68		-	the potential to identify fraud and produce cost savings.
69		-	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act to Section
70		-	207.046(a), Labor Code, applies only to a claim for unemployment
71		-	compensation benefits filed with the Texas Workforce Commission on
72		-	or after the effective date of this Act. A claim filed before the
73		-	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
74		-	date the claim was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
75		-	for that purpose.
76		-	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
	50	+	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
	51	+	to a claim for unemployment compensation benefits filed with the
	52	+	Texas Workforce Commission on or after the effective date of this
	53	+	Act. A claim filed before the effective date of this Act is
	54	+	governed by the law in effect on the date the claim was filed, and
	55	+	the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	56	+	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.