Relating to the eligibility of certain individuals for unemployment benefits and the validity of certain claims for unemployment benefits submitted to the Texas Workforce Commission.

89(R) SB 1950 - Engrossed version - Bill Text

By: Creighton, King

S.B. No. 1950

Kolkhorst

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the eligibility of certain individuals for unemployment

benefits and the validity of certain claims for unemployment

benefits submitted to the Texas Workforce Commission.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 207.021, Labor Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) 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;

(B)

during each week of the benefit period,

performed a combination of the following work search activities,

subject to verification by the commission:

(i)

completed and submitted an application

for a job, other than an application submitted while attending a job

fair;

(ii)

submitted a resume to an employer that

advertised an active job opening;

(iii) attended a job fair;

(iv)

participated in a job interview or

skills test conducted by a potential employer;

(v)

after submitting a resume or

application or participating in a job interview, responded to an

employer's inquiry; or

(vi)

participated in a work search or

professional training sponsored or approved by the commission; and

(C)

has had the individual's identity verified by

the commission in accordance with rules adopted under Subsection

(a-2)
;

(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.

(a-1)

The commission by rule shall prescribe the minimum

number of work search activities an individual must perform under

Subsection (a)(5)(B) during each week.

The rules may not require an

individual to perform fewer than five work search activities during

each week.

(a-2)

The commission by rule shall prescribe the process for

verifying an unemployed individual's identity under Subsection

(a)(5)(C). The rules must provide for, at a minimum:

(1)

the adoption and use by the commission of a

statistically valid and unbiased methodology to assess the fraud

risk of each claim for unemployment benefits;

(2)

an annual audit of the methodology adopted under

Subdivision (1) that includes an assessment of the methodology's

effectiveness; and

(3)

the adoption and use by the commission of a

mechanism to verify the identity of an individual using the

individual's government-issued identification if the individual's

claim for unemployment benefits is determined by the commission to

be a pervasive fraud risk using the methodology adopted under

Subdivision (1).

SECTION 2. Section 207.047(a), Labor Code, is amended 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)
in accordance with rules adopted by the commission

under Section 207.021(a-2),
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 Section 208.0211 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 initial and additional claims

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 this state;

(3) death records maintained by this state;

(4)

records of persons who are incarcerated maintained

by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Federal Bureau

of Prisons; and

(5)

the Systematic Alien Verification for

Entitlements (SAVE) program, or a successor program.

(b)

On confirmation that an individual no longer has a valid

claim, the commission shall suspend the payment of benefits

immediately.

(c)

Nothing in this section may be construed as prohibiting

the commission from developing or implementing additional measures

to determine the validity of a claim under Section 208.021.

SECTION 5. Sections 214.003(a) and (b), Labor Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) If, by wilful 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 fifth calendar year

following the last day of the benefit year in which the

nondisclosure or misrepresentation occurred; or

(ii)

the date that the commission recovered

from the claimant any benefits received by wilful 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
and the person shall forfeit rights to

any benefit under this subtitle until the end of the fifth calendar

year following the last day of the benefit year in which the

attempted nondisclosure or misrepresentation occurred
.

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.