Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1689 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1	1	88R14121 RDS-F
2	2	By: Birdwell S.B. No. 1689
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to claimant eligibility and initial claims under the
8	8	unemployment compensation system.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 207.021(a), Labor Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	(a) Except as provided by Chapter 215, an unemployed
13	13	individual is eligible to receive benefits for a benefit period if
14	14	the individual:
15	15	(1) has registered for work at an employment office
16	16	and has continued to report to the employment office as required by
17	17	rules adopted by the commission;
18	18	(2) has made a claim for benefits under Section
19	19	208.001;
20	20	(3) is able to work;
21	21	(4) is available for work;
22	22	(5) is actively seeking work in accordance with rules
23	23	adopted by the commission;
24	24	(6) for the individual's base period, has benefit wage
25	25	credits:
26	26	(A) in at least two calendar quarters; and
27	27	(B) in an amount not less than 37 times the
28	28	individual's benefit amount;
29	29	(7) after the beginning date of the individual's most
30	30	recent prior benefit year, if applicable, earned wages in an amount
31	31	equal to not less than six times the individual's benefit amount;
32	32	(8) has been totally or partially unemployed for a
33	33	waiting period of at least seven consecutive days; [and]
34	34	(9) participates in reemployment services, such as a
35	35	job search assistance service, if the individual has been
36	36	determined, according to a profiling system established by the
37	37	commission, to be likely to exhaust eligibility for regular
38	38	benefits and to need those services to obtain new employment,
39	39	unless:
40	40	(A) the individual has completed participation
41	41	in such a service; or
42	42	(B) there is reasonable cause, as determined by
43	43	the commission, for the individual's failure to participate in
44	44	those services; and
45	45	(10) has satisfied any outstanding obligation in
46	46	relation to benefits improperly received by the individual as a
47	47	result of a wilful nondisclosure or misrepresentation of a material
48	48	fact described by Section 214.003, including the amount of any
49	49	penalty assessed against the individual under that section, but
50	50	only if the benefit period for which the individual is seeking
51	51	benefits is not in the same benefit year in which the nondisclosure
52	52	or misrepresentation of a material fact occurred.
53	53	SECTION 2. Section 208.002(a), Labor Code, is amended to
54	54	read as follows:
55	55	(a) When used in connection with an initial claim, "last
56	56	work" and "person for whom the claimant last worked" refer to [:
57	57	[(1) the last person for whom the claimant actually
58	58	worked, if the claimant worked for that person for at least 30 hours
59	59	during a week; or
60	60	[(2)] the employer, as defined by Subchapter C,
61	61	Chapter 201, [or by the unemployment law of any other state,] for
62	62	whom the claimant last worked.
63	63	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
64	64	a claim for unemployment compensation benefits filed with the Texas
65	65	Workforce Commission on or after the effective date of this Act. A
66	66	claim filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
67	67	law in effect on the date the claim was filed, and the former law is
68	68	continued in effect for that purpose.
69	69	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.