H.F. 2112 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 96.45 Self-employment assistance 1 program 2 1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context 3 otherwise requires: 4 a. “Self-employment assistance activities” means activities 5 approved by the director in which an individual participates 6 for the purpose of establishing a business and becoming 7 self-employed. Self-employment assistance activities include 8 but are not limited to entrepreneurial training, business 9 counseling, and technical assistance. 10 b. “Self-employment assistance allowance” means an amount 11 payable in lieu of regular benefits under this chapter to 12 an individual participating in self-employment assistance 13 activities in accordance with this section. Self-employment 14 assistance allowance amounts shall be paid from the 15 unemployment compensation fund. 16 2. Self-employment assistance allowance —— amount. The 17 weekly amount of the self-employment assistance allowance 18 payable to an individual is equal to the weekly regular benefit 19 amount. The sum of the self-employment assistance allowance 20 paid under this section and the regular benefits paid under 21 this chapter with respect to any benefit year shall not 22 exceed the maximum benefit amount payable under section 96.3, 23 subsection 5, with respect to that benefit year. 24 3. Eligibility requirements. The following eligibility 25 requirements apply to the payment of a self-employment 26 assistance allowance under this section. 27 a. An individual may receive a self-employment assistance 28 allowance if the following requirements are met: 29 (1) The individual is eligible to receive regular benefits 30 or would be eligible to receive regular benefits except for the 31 requirements described in paragraph “b” , subparagraphs (1) and 32 (2). 33 (2) The individual is identified by a worker profiling 34 system as an individual likely to exhaust regular benefits. 35 -1- LSB 5341YH (6) 84 je/rj 1/ 5

H.F. 2112 (3) The individual has submitted an application form and an 1 initial business plan as prescribed by the director. 2 (4) The individual’s initial business plan has been 3 reviewed for feasibility by the department in consultation with 4 the economic development authority created by section 15.105. 5 An individual shall not be approved for a self-employment 6 assistance allowance unless the department finds the 7 individual’s initial business plan feasible. Upon request, the 8 department shall advise an individual as to resources available 9 in the state to aid in the development of a feasible, initial 10 business plan. 11 (5) The individual has obtained any occupational 12 certification or license necessary to carry out the 13 individual’s initial business plan prior to the submission of 14 an application form and an initial business plan. 15 (6) The individual has filed a weekly claim for the 16 self-employment assistance allowance and provides a log of 17 self-employment activities and any other information the 18 director prescribes. 19 b. The self-employment assistance allowance shall be payable 20 to an individual at the same intervals and on the same terms 21 and conditions as regular benefits under this chapter except 22 for the following: 23 (1) The provisions of this chapter regarding being 24 available for work, actively seeking work, and refusing to 25 accept suitable work are not applicable to such an individual. 26 (2) The requirements of this chapter relating to 27 disqualifying income are not applicable to income earned from 28 self-employment by such an individual. 29 c. An individual who meets the requirements of this section 30 shall be considered to be totally unemployed under section 31 96.19, subsection 38, paragraph “a” . 32 d. An individual who fails to actively engage on a full-time 33 basis in self-employment assistance activities is ineligible to 34 receive the self-employment assistance allowance for each week 35 -2- LSB 5341YH (6) 84 je/rj 2/ 5

H.F. 2112 in which such failure occurs. 1 4. Limitation on number of individuals receiving a 2 self-employment assistance allowance. The number of individuals 3 receiving the self-employment assistance allowance at any time 4 shall not exceed five percent of the number of individuals 5 receiving regular benefits. 6 5. Financing the costs of the self-employment assistance 7 allowance. The self-employment assistance allowance shall be 8 charged to employers in the manner provided in this chapter for 9 the charging of regular benefits. 10 6. Compliance with federal policy. In adopting rules 11 to administer this section, the director, insofar as is 12 practicable, shall comply with the rules and policies of the 13 United States department of labor. 14 7. Termination date. The authority to pay self-employment 15 assistance allowances under this section terminates at the 16 end of the week preceding the date when federal law no longer 17 authorizes such payment, unless that date is on a Saturday in 18 which case the authority terminates on that date. 19 EXPLANATION 20 This bill establishes a self-employment assistance 21 program which provides unemployment compensation benefits to 22 individuals seeking to be self-employed. These benefits are 23 paid instead of regular unemployment compensation benefits. 24 Authority to establish the program is provided by federal law 25 at 26 U.S.C. § 3306(t). 26 The bill defines self-employment assistance activities 27 and self-employment assistance allowance. Self-employment 28 assistance activities are intended to enable an individual 29 to establish a business and become self-employed and 30 include entrepreneurial training, business counseling, 31 technical assistance, and any other activities approved by 32 the labor commissioner. The bill provides that the weekly 33 self-employment assistance allowance payable to an individual 34 is equal to the weekly benefit amount for regular unemployment 35 -3- LSB 5341YH (6) 84 je/rj 3/ 5

H.F. 2112 benefits and the maximum yearly allowance is the same as 1 the maximum yearly, regular unemployment benefits currently 2 allowable. Charges to employers are made in the same manner as 3 charges to employers for regular unemployment benefits. 4 The bill establishes eligibility requirements for an 5 individual’s acceptance into the self-employment assistance 6 program. An individual must be identified by a worker 7 profiling system as an individual likely to exhaust regular 8 unemployment compensation benefits. An individual must 9 submit an application form and an initial business plan. The 10 department of workforce development, in consultation with the 11 economic development authority, must review the individual’s 12 initial business plan for feasibility. An individual’s 13 initial business plan must be found feasible in order for the 14 individual to be accepted into the program. Upon request, 15 the department is to advise an individual as to resources 16 available in the state to aid in the development of a feasible 17 initial business plan. An individual must have obtained any 18 occupational certification or license necessary to carry out 19 the individual’s initial business plan prior to applying for 20 the program. An individual must also file a weekly claim for 21 the self-employment assistance allowance and provide a log of 22 self-employment activities as well as any other information 23 required by the director of the department of workforce 24 development. 25 The bill provides that the requirements to receive regular 26 unemployment benefits relating to availability for work, active 27 search for work, refusal to accept work, and self-employment 28 income do not apply to an individual otherwise eligible to 29 receive a self-employment assistance allowance. The bill 30 provides that an individual who fails to actively engage in 31 self-employment assistance activities full-time is ineligible 32 to receive the self-employment assistance allowance for each 33 week such a failure occurs. 34 The bill provides that the maximum number of individuals 35 -4- LSB 5341YH (6) 84 je/rj 4/ 5

H.F. 2112 eligible for the program at any one time is equal to 5 percent 1 of the individuals receiving regular unemployment benefits. 2 The bill directs the director of the department of workforce 3 development to comply with the rules and policies of the United 4 States department of labor, where practicable, when adopting 5 rules to implement the bill. 6 The bill is void if federal authorization for the program 7 ends. 8 -5- LSB 5341YH (6) 84 je/rj 5/ 5