By: DeAyala H.B. No. 4424
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to promoting re-employment and deterring fraud and abuse
in the Texas unemployment benefits program.
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:
(A) is actively seeking work; and
(B) during each week of the benefit period,
performed at least five work search activities. Acceptable work
search activities include:
(i) completing and submitting an
application for a job;
(ii) submitted a resume to an employer that
advertised a job opening;
(iii) attending a job fair;
(iv) participating in a job interview or
employer-facilitated skills test;
(v) participating in a job or skill
training program.
(6) for the individual's base period, has benefit wage
credits:
(A) in at least threetwo 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 37six 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.
(10) A local workforce development board may require
more than five work search actions per week in any county served by
the board, but a board may not require fewer than five work search
actions per week.
SECTION 2. Section 207.047, Labor Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) An individual is disqualified for benefits if during the
individual's current benefit year, the individual failed, without
good cause, to:
(1) apply for available, suitable work when directed
to do so by the commission;
(2) accept suitable work offered to the individual; or
(3) return to the individual's customary
self-employment, if any, when directed to do so by the commission;
or
(4) respond to an employer's request for an interview
or to attend a scheduled interview for suitable work.
SECTION 3. Section 208.021(b), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) For each valid initial claim, the commission shall
determine:
(1) the claimant's identity;
(2) the claimant's benefit year;
(3) (2) the benefit amount for total unemployment; and
(4) (3) the duration of benefits.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 208, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Sections 208.0211 and 208.0212 to read as
follows:
Sec. 208.0211 DETERMINATION OF CLAIM VALIDITY.
(a) In determining the validity of a claim under Section
208.021, the commission shall cross-check all claims for benefits
against:
(1) the integrity data hub operated by the National
Association of State Workforce Agencies;
(2) the national directory of new hires maintained by
the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement and any directory
of new hires maintained by the state of Texas;
(3) death records maintained by the state of Texas;
(4) records of persons who are incarcerated maintained
by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Federal Bureau
of Prisons;
(5) the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services'
SAVE database to determine immigration status and eligibility for
benefits.
(b) For purposes of determining a claimant's identity under
this section, the commission shall employ a mechanism that allows
verification, with a government-issued form of identification, the
real identity of any claimant for unemployment benefits.
(c) On confirmation that an individual no longer has a valid
claim, the commission shall suspend the payment of benefits
immediately.
(d) Nothing in this section shall limit the commission from
developing and implementing additional measures to protect the
integrity of the unemployment benefits program.
SECTION 5. Sections 214.003(a) and (b), Labor Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) If, by willful 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) benefit received; and
(B) rights to benefits that remain in the benefit
year in which the nondisclosure or misrepresentation occurred; and
(C) rights to any benefits under this subtitle
until the earlier of:
(i) the end of the first calendar year
following the last day of the benefit year in which the
nondisclosure or misrepresentation occurred for the first
occurrence, the end of the third calendar year following the last
day of the benefit year in which the nondisclosure or
misrepresentation occurred for the second occurrence, the end of
the fifth calendar year following the last day of the benefit year
in which the nondisclosure or misrepresentation occurred for the
third and all future occurrences;
(ii) the date that the commission recovered
from the claimant any benefits received by willful nondisclosure or
misrepresentation of a material fact and any penalty imposed under
this section; and
(2) the commission shall require the person to pay a
penalty in an amount equal to 15 percent of the amount forfeited
under Subdivision (1)(A).
(b) If a person attempts to obtain or increase benefits by a
nondisclosure or misrepresentation as provided by Subsection (a),
the commission shallmay cancel the person's right to benefits that
remain in the benefit year in which the nondisclosure or
misrepresentation occurred for the first offense, the person's
right to any benefit under this subtitle for three years
immediately following the second offense, and for five years
immediately following the third and all future offenses.
SECTION 6. 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 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026.