DeAyala Bill Requires Five Job Searches A Week For Unemployment

The text as introduced · 1,162 words

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 three two 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 37 six 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 shall may 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.