88R19361 SCP-F
By: Button H.B. No. 2586
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to participation in reemployment services as a condition
of eligibility for unemployment benefits.
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) if required by the commission, 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.
SECTION 2. Section 207.021(a), Labor Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a claim for unemployment compensation
benefits 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.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.