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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 96.3A SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
1 2 PROGRAM.
1 3 1. DEFINITIONS. As used in this section, unless the
1 4 context otherwise requires:
1 5 a. "Self-employment assistance activities" means
1 6 activities approved by the commissioner in which an individual
1 7 participates for the purpose of establishing a business and
1 8 becoming self-employed. "Self-employment assistance
1 9 activities" includes, but is not limited to, entrepreneurial
1 10 training, business counseling, and technical assistance.
1 11 b. "Self-employment assistance allowance" means an
1 12 allowance payable, in lieu of regular benefits, from the
1 13 unemployment compensation fund established in section 96.9 to
1 14 an individual who meets the requirements of this section.
1 15 2. AMOUNT OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE. The
1 16 weekly allowance payable under this section to an individual
1 17 shall be equal to the weekly benefit amount for regular
1 18 benefits otherwise payable pursuant to section 96.3. The
1 19 maximum total amount of regular benefits and self-employment
1 20 assistance allowances payable to an eligible individual during
1 21 a benefit year shall not exceed the maximum benefits allowed
1 22 as established by section 96.3, subsection 5.
1 23 3. ELIGIBILITY. The following eligibility requirements
1 24 apply to the payment of a self-employment assistance allowance
1 25 under this section.
1 26 a. An individual may receive a self-employment assistance
1 27 allowance if the following requirements are met:
1 28 (1) The individual is eligible to receive regular benefits
1 29 or would be eligible to receive regular benefits except for
1 30 the requirements described in paragraph "b".
1 31 (2) The individual is identified by a worker profiling
1 32 system as an individual likely to exhaust regular benefits.
1 33 (3) The individual has filed an application for
1 34 participation in the self-employment assistance program within
1 35 sixty days of filing an initial application for regular
2 1 benefits and has provided the information the commissioner may
2 2 prescribe.
2 3 (4) The individual is still eligible for, at the time the
2 4 application is filed, regular benefits equal to at least
2 5 eighteen times the individual's weekly benefits amount and at
2 6 least eighteen weeks remain in the individual's benefit year.
2 7 (5) The individual has been accepted into and is
2 8 participating full-time in self-employment assistance
2 9 activities.
2 10 (6) The individual has filed a weekly claim for the self-
2 11 employment assistance allowance and provides the information
2 12 the commissioner prescribes, including a log of self-
2 13 employment activities.
2 14 b. A self-employment assistance allowance is payable to an
2 15 individual at the same interval, on the same terms, and
2 16 subject to the same conditions as regular benefits except for
2 17 the following:
2 18 (1) The requirements of this chapter relating to
2 19 availability for work and active search for work are not
2 20 applicable to the individual.
2 21 (2) The requirements of this chapter relating to refusal
2 22 to accept work are not applicable to the individual.
2 23 (3) The requirements of this chapter relating to self-
2 24 employment income are not applicable to the individual.
2 25 (4) An individual who meets the requirements of this
2 26 section shall be considered to be totally unemployed.
2 27 (5) An individual who fails to participate in self-
2 28 employment assistance activities or who fails to actively
2 29 engage on a full-time basis in activities, which may include
2 30 training, related to establishing a business and becoming
2 31 self-employed shall be disqualified for the week the failure
2 32 occurs.
2 33 4. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING A SELF-
2 34 EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE. The number of individuals
2 35 receiving a self-employment assistance allowance at any time
3 1 shall not exceed five per cent of the number of individuals
3 2 receiving regular benefits at that time.
3 3 5. FINANCING. Self-employment assistance allowances paid
3 4 pursuant to this section shall be charged to employers as
3 5 provided under section 96.7 relating to the charging of
3 6 regular benefits.
3 7 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND TERMINATION DATE. This section is
3 8 effective for the weeks beginning on or after the effective
3 9 date of this Act or beginning on or after the date any plan
3 10 providing for a self-employment assistance program required by
3 11 the United States department of labor is approved, whichever
3 12 date is later. This section is void as of the end of the week
3 13 preceding the date when federal law no longer authorizes the
3 14 provision of a self-employment assistance program, unless the
3 15 date is a Saturday, in which case this section is void as of
3 16 that date.
3 17 EXPLANATION
3 18 This bill establishes a self-employment assistance program
3 19 which essentially provides unemployment compensation benefits
3 20 to individuals seeking to be self-employed. Authority to
3 21 establish a program is provided by federal law at 26 U.S.C. }
3 22 3306(t).
3 23 The bill defines self-employment assistance activities and
3 24 self-employment assistance allowance. The bill provides that
3 25 the weekly self-employment assistance allowance payable to an
3 26 individual is equal to the weekly benefit amount for regular
3 27 unemployment benefits and the maximum yearly allowance is the
3 28 same as the maximum regular unemployment benefits currently
3 29 allowable. Charges to employers are made in the same manner
3 30 as charges to employers for regular unemployment benefits.
3 31 The bill establishes eligibility requirements for an
3 32 individual's acceptance into the self-employment assistance
3 33 program. The bill provides that the requirements to receive
3 34 regular unemployment benefits relating to availability for
3 35 work, active search for work, refusal to accept work, and
4 1 self-employment income do not apply to an individual otherwise
4 2 eligible to receive a self-employment assistance allowance.
4 3 The bill provides that the maximum number of individuals
4 4 eligible for the program at any one time is equal to 5 percent
4 5 of the individuals receiving regular unemployment benefits.
4 6 The bill provides that the bill is effective on the
4 7 effective date of the bill, or the date the United States
4 8 department of labor approves Iowa's plan, and that the bill is
4 9 void if federal authorization for the program ends.
4 10 LSB 1393SS 76
4 11 ec/jj/8
Text: SF00195 Text: SF00197 Text: SF00100 - SF00199 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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