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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 director 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, notwithstanding the maximum benefits as
1 22 established by section 96.3, subsection 5, not exceed the
1 23 lesser of the total of the wage credits accrued in the
1 24 individual's account during the base period or twenty times
1 25 the individual's weekly benefit amount.
1 26 3. ELIGIBILITY. The following eligibility requirements
1 27 apply to the payment of a self-employment assistance allowance
1 28 under this section.
1 29 a. An individual may receive a self-employment assistance
1 30 allowance if the following requirements are met:
1 31 (1) The individual is eligible to receive regular benefits
1 32 or would be eligible to receive regular benefits except for
1 33 the requirements described in paragraph "b".
1 34 (2) The individual is identified by a worker profiling
1 35 system as an individual likely to exhaust regular benefits.
2 1 (3) The individual has filed an application for
2 2 participation in the self-employment assistance program within
2 3 sixty days of filing an initial application for regular
2 4 benefits and has provided the information the director may
2 5 prescribe.
2 6 (4) The individual is still eligible for, at the time the
2 7 application is filed, regular benefits equal to at least
2 8 eighteen times the individual's weekly benefits amount and at
2 9 least eighteen weeks remain in the individual's benefit year.
2 10 (5) The individual has been accepted into and is
2 11 participating full-time in self-employment assistance
2 12 activities.
2 13 (6) The individual has filed a weekly claim for the self-
2 14 employment assistance allowance and provides the information
2 15 the director prescribes, including a log of self-employment
2 16 activities.
2 17 (7) The individual has not previously participated in a
2 18 self-employment assistance program.
2 19 (8) The individual seeks to become self-employed through
2 20 participation in the self-employment assistance program and
2 21 receipt of the self-employment assistance allowance under this
2 22 section in an occupation or business for which the director
2 23 has determined there is a demand in the market.
2 24 (9) The individual seeks to become self-employed through
2 25 participation in the self-employment assistance program and
2 26 receipt of the self-employment assistance allowance under this
2 27 section in an occupation or business that does not compete
2 28 with any business or service offered to the public by either
2 29 the employer who most recently employed the individual prior
2 30 to the individual filing the application for participation in
2 31 the self-employment assistance program or any employer from
2 32 whom the individual received wage credits in the individual's
2 33 base period.
2 34 b. A self-employment assistance allowance is payable to an
2 35 individual at the same interval, on the same terms, and
3 1 subject to the same conditions as regular benefits except for
3 2 the following:
3 3 (1) The requirements of this chapter relating to
3 4 availability for work and active search for work are not
3 5 applicable to the individual.
3 6 (2) The requirements of this chapter relating to refusal
3 7 to accept work are not applicable to the individual.
3 8 (3) The requirements of this chapter relating to self-
3 9 employment income are not applicable to the individual.
3 10 (4) An individual who meets the requirements of this
3 11 section shall be considered to be totally unemployed.
3 12 (5) An individual who fails to participate in self-
3 13 employment assistance activities or who fails to actively
3 14 engage on a full-time basis in activities, which may include
3 15 training, related to establishing a business and becoming
3 16 self-employed shall be disqualified for the week the failure
3 17 occurs. If an individual is disqualified under this
3 18 subparagraph for two consecutive weeks or for any three weeks
3 19 while participating in the self-employment assistance program,
3 20 the individual shall be removed from the program and
3 21 disqualified from receiving any benefits under this chapter
3 22 until the individual has requalified as provided in this
3 23 section.
3 24 c. An individual who has received a self-employment
3 25 assistance allowance under this section shall be disqualified
3 26 for benefits under this chapter once the individual has left
3 27 or been removed from the self-employment assistance program,
3 28 including the situation when an individual has left the
3 29 program upon receiving the maximum total of payments under
3 30 subsection 2, until the individual has worked in and been paid
3 31 wages for insured work equal to ten times the individual's
3 32 weekly benefit amount after having left or been removed from
3 33 the program, and provided the individual is otherwise
3 34 eligible.
3 35 4. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING A SELF-
4 1 EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE. The number of individuals
4 2 receiving a self-employment assistance allowance at any time
4 3 shall not exceed five per cent of the number of individuals
4 4 receiving regular benefits at that time.
4 5 5. FINANCING. Self-employment assistance allowances paid
4 6 pursuant to this section shall be charged to employers as
4 7 provided under section 96.7 relating to the charging of
4 8 regular benefits.
4 9 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND TERMINATION DATE. This section is
4 10 effective for the weeks beginning on or after the effective
4 11 date of this Act or beginning on or after the date any plan
4 12 providing for a self-employment assistance program required by
4 13 the United States department of labor is approved, whichever
4 14 date is later. This section is void as of the end of the week
4 15 preceding the date when federal law no longer authorizes the
4 16 provision of a self-employment assistance program, unless the
4 17 date is a Saturday, in which case this section is void as of
4 18 that date, or July 1, 1999, whichever occurs first.
4 19 Sec. 2. Section 96.6, subsection 2, Code 1997, is amended
4 20 to read as follows:
4 21 2. INITIAL DETERMINATION. A representative designated by
4 22 the director shall promptly notify all interested parties,
4 23 including all employers identified in section 96.3A,
4 24 subsection 3, paragraph "a", subparagraph (9), to the claim of
4 25 its filing, and the parties have ten days from the date of
4 26 mailing the notice of the filing of the claim by ordinary mail
4 27 to the last known address to protest payment of benefits to
4 28 the claimant. The representative shall promptly examine the
4 29 claim and any protest, take the initiative to ascertain
4 30 relevant information concerning the claim, and, on the basis
4 31 of the facts found by the representative, shall determine
4 32 whether or not the claim is valid, the week with respect to
4 33 which benefits shall commence, the weekly benefit amount
4 34 payable and its maximum duration, and whether any
4 35 disqualification shall be imposed. The claimant has the
5 1 burden of proving that the claimant meets the basic
5 2 eligibility conditions of section 96.3A or 96.4. The employer
5 3 has the burden of proving that the claimant is disqualified
5 4 for benefits pursuant to section 96.3A or 96.5. However, the
5 5 claimant has the initial burden to produce evidence showing
5 6 that the claimant is not disqualified for benefits in cases
5 7 involving section 96.3A, subsection 3, paragraphs "b" and "c",
5 8 and section 96.5, subsection 1, paragraphs "a" through "h",
5 9 and subsection 10. Unless the claimant or other interested
5 10 party, after notification or within ten calendar days after
5 11 notification was mailed to the claimant's last known address,
5 12 files an appeal from the decision, the decision is final and
5 13 benefits shall be paid or denied in accordance with the
5 14 decision. If an administrative law judge affirms a decision
5 15 of the representative, or the appeal board affirms a decision
5 16 of the administrative law judge allowing benefits, the
5 17 benefits shall be paid regardless of any appeal which is
5 18 thereafter taken, but if the decision is finally reversed, no
5 19 employer's account shall be charged with benefits so paid and
5 20 this relief from charges shall apply to both contributory and
5 21 reimbursable employers, notwithstanding section 96.8,
5 22 subsection 5.
5 23 EXPLANATION
5 24 This bill establishes a self-employment assistance program
5 25 which essentially provides unemployment compensation benefits
5 26 to individuals seeking to be self-employed. Authority to
5 27 establish a program is provided by federal law at 26 U.S.C. }
5 28 3306(t).
5 29 The bill defines self-employment assistance activities and
5 30 self-employment assistance allowance. The bill provides that
5 31 the weekly self-employment assistance allowance payable to an
5 32 individual is equal to the weekly benefit amount for regular
5 33 unemployment benefits and the maximum yearly allowance is the
5 34 lesser of the total of wage credits accrued in the
5 35 individual's account or 20 times the individual's weekly
6 1 benefit amount. Charges to employers are made in the same
6 2 manner as charges to employers for regular unemployment
6 3 benefits.
6 4 The bill establishes eligibility requirements for an
6 5 individual's acceptance into the self-employment assistance
6 6 program. The bill provides that the requirements to receive
6 7 regular unemployment benefits relating to availability for
6 8 work, active search for work, refusal to accept work, and
6 9 self-employment income do not apply to an individual otherwise
6 10 eligible to receive a self-employment assistance allowance.
6 11 The bill provides that the maximum number of individuals
6 12 eligible for the program at any one time is equal to 5 percent
6 13 of the individuals receiving regular unemployment benefits.
6 14 The bill provides that the bill is effective on the
6 15 effective date of the bill, or the date the United States
6 16 department of labor approves Iowa's plan, and that the bill is
6 17 void if federal authorization for the program ends or July 1,
6 18 1999, whichever occurs first.
6 19 LSB 1257HC 77
6 20 ec/cf/24
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