Internal Revenue Code (Title 26 U.S.C.)
26 U.S.C. § 3304 (2024) — Approval of State laws
Requirements
The Secretary of Labor shall approve any State law submitted to him, within 30 days of such submission, which he finds provides that— (1) all compensation is to be paid through public employment offices or such other agencies as the Secretary of Labor may approve; (2) no compensation shall be payable with respect to any day of unemployment occurring within 2 years after the first day of the first period with respect to which contributions are required; (3) all money received in the unemployment fund shall (except for refunds of sums erroneously paid into such fund and except for refunds paid in accordance with the provisions of section 3305(b)) immediately upon such receipt be paid over to the Secretary of the Treasury to the credit of the Unemployment Trust Fund established by section 904 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1104); (4) all money withdrawn from the unemployment fund of the State shall be used solely in the payment of unemployment compensation, exclusive of expenses of administration, and for refunds of sums erroneously paid into such fund and refunds paid in accordance with the provisions of section 3305(b); except that— (A) an amount equal to the amount of employee payments into the unemployment fund of a State may be used in the payment of cash benefits to individuals with respect to their disability, exclusive of expenses of administration; (B) the amounts specified by section 903 (c)(2) or 903(d)(4) of the Social Security Act may, subject to the conditions prescribed in such section, be used for expenses incurred by the State for administration of its unemployment compensation law and public employment offices; (C) nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit deducting an amount from unemployment compensation otherwise payable to an individual and using the amount so deducted to pay for health insurance, or the withholding of Federal, State, or local individual income tax, if the individual elected to have such deduction made and such deduction was made under a program approved by the Secretary of Labor; (D) amounts shall be deducted from unemployment benefits and used to repay overpayments as provided in section 303(g) of the Social Security Act; (E) amounts may be withdrawn for the payment of short-time compensation under a short-time compensation program (as defined under section 3306(v)); (F) amounts may be withdrawn for the payment of allowances under a self-employment assistance program (as defined in section 3306(t)); and (G) with respect to amounts of covered unemployment compensation debt (as defined in section 6402(f)(4)) collected under section 6402(f)— (i) amounts may be deducted to pay any fees authorized under such section; and (ii) the penalties and interest described in section 6402(f)(4)(C) may be transferred to the appropriate State fund into which the State would have deposited such amounts had the person owing the debt paid such amounts directly to the State; (5) compensation shall not be denied in such State to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work under any of the following conditions: (A) if the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute; (B) if the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work offered are substantially less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the locality; (C) if as a condition of being employed the individual would be required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide labor organization; (6)(A) compensation is payable on the basis of service to which section 3309(a)(1) applies, in the same amount, on the same terms, and subject to the same conditions as compensation payable on the basis of other service subject to such law; except that— (i) with respect to services in an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity for an educational institution to which section 3309(a)(1) applies, compensation shall not be payable based on such services for any week commencing during the period between two successive academic years or terms (or, when an agreement provides instead for a similar period between two regular but not successive terms, during such period) to any individual if such individual performs such services in the first of such academic years (or terms) and if there is a contract or reasonable assurance that such individual will perform services in any such capacity for any educational institution in the second of such academic years or terms, (ii) with respect to services in any other capacity for an educational institution to which section 3309(a)(1) applies— (I) compensation payable on the basis of such services may be denied to any individual for any week which commences during a period between 2 successive academic years or terms if such individual performs such services in the first of such academic years or terms and there is a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such services in the second of such academic years or terms, except that (II) if compensation is denied to any individual for any week under subclause (I) and such individual was not offered an opportunity to perform such services for the educational institution for the second of such academic years or terms, such individual shall be entitled to a retroactive payment of the compensation for each week for which the individual filed a timely claim for compensation and for which compensation was denied solely by reason of subclause (I), (iii) with respect to any services described in clause (i) or (ii), compensation payable on the basis of such services shall be denied to any individual for any week which commences during an established and customary vacation period or holiday recess if such individual performs such services in the period immediately before such vacation period or holiday recess, and there is a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such services in the period immediately following such vacation period or holiday recess, (iv) with respect to any services described in clause (i) or (ii), compensation payable on the basis of services in any such capacity shall be denied as specified in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) to any individual who performed such services in an educational institution while in the employ of an educational service agency, and for this purpose the term "educational service agency" means a governmental agency or governmental entity which is established and operated exclusively for the purpose of providing such services to one or more educational institutions, (v) with respect to services to which section 3309(a)(1) applies, if such services are provided to or on behalf of an educational institution, compensation may be denied under the same circumstances as described in clauses (i) through (iv), and (vi) with respect to services described in clause (ii), clauses (iii) and (iv) shall be applied by substituting "may be denied" for "shall be denied", and (B) payments (in lieu of contributions) with respect to service to which section 3309(a)(1) applies may be made into the State unemployment fund on the basis set forth in section 3309(a)(2); (7) an individual who has received compensation during his benefit year is required to have had work since the beginning of such year in order to qualify for compensation in his next benefit year; (8) compensation shall not be denied to an individual for any week because he is in training with the approval of the State agency (or because of the application, to any such week in training, of State law provisions relating to availability for work, active search for work, or refusal to accept work); (9)(A) compensation shall not be denied or reduced to an individual solely because he files a claim in another State (or a contiguous country with which the United States has an agreement with respect to unemployment compensation) or because he resides in another State (or such a contiguous country) at the time he files a claim for unemployment compensation; (B) the State shall participate in any arrangements for the payment of compensation on the basis of combining an individual's wages and employment covered under the State law with his wages and employment covered under the unemployment compensation law of other States which are approved by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with the State unemployment compensation agencies as reasonably calculated to assure the prompt and full payment of compensation in such situations. Any such arrangement shall include provisions for (i) applying the base period of a single State law to a claim involving the combining of an individual's wages and employment covered under two or more State laws, and (ii) avoiding duplicate use of wages and employment by reason of such combining; (10) compensation shall not be denied to any individual by reason of cancellation of wage credits or total reduction of his benefit rights for any cause other than discharge for misconduct connected with his work, fraud in connection with a claim for compensation, or receipt of disqualifying income; (11) extended compensation shall be payable as provided by the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970; (12) no person shall be denied compensation under such State law solely on the basis of pregnancy or termination of pregnancy; (13) compensation shall not be payable to any individual on the basis of any services, substantially all of which consist of participating in sports or athletic events or training or preparing to so participate, for any week which commences during the period between two successive sport seasons (or similar periods) if such individual performed such services in the first of such seasons (or similar periods) and there is a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such services in the later of such seasons (or similar periods); (14)(A) compensation shall not be payable on the basis of services performed by an alien unless such alien is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time such services were performed, was lawfully present for purposes of performing such services, or was permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time such services were performed (including an alien who was lawfully present in the United States as a result of the application of the provisions of section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), (B) any data or information required of individuals applying for compensation to determine whether compensation is not payable to them because of their alien status shall be uniformly required from all applicants for compensation, and (C) in the case of an individual whose application for compensation would otherwise be approved, no determination by the State agency that compensation to such individual is not payable because of his alien status shall be made except upon a preponderance of the evidence; (15)(A) subject to subparagraph (B), the amount of compensation payable to an individual for any week which begins after March 31, 1980, and which begins in a period with respect to which such individual is receiving a governmental or other pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity, or any other similar periodic payment which is based on the previous work of such individual shall be reduced (but not below zero) by an amount equal to the amount of such pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity, or other payment, which is reasonably attributable to such week except that— (i) the requirements of this paragraph shall apply to any pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity, or other similar periodic payment only if— (I) such pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity, or similar payment is under a plan maintained (or contributed to) by a base period employer or chargeable employer (as determined under applicable law), and (II) in the case of such a payment not made under the Social Security Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (or the corresponding provisions of prior law), services performed for such employer by the individual after the beginning of the base period (or remuneration for such services) affect eligibility for, or increase the amount of, such pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity, or similar payment, and (ii) the State law may provide for limitations on the amount of any such a reduction to take into account contributions made by the individual for the pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity, or other similar periodic payment, and (B) the amount of compensation shall not be reduced on account of any payments of governmental or other pensions, retirement or retired pay, annuity, or other similar payments which are not includible in the gross income of the individual for the taxable year in which it was paid because it was part of a rollover distribution; (16)(A) wage information contained in the records of the agency administering the State law which is necessary (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in regulations) for purposes of determining an individual's eligibility for assistance, or the amount of such assistance, under a State program funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, shall be made available to a State or political subdivision thereof when such information is specifically requested by such State or political subdivision for such purposes, (B) wage and unemployment compensation information contained in the records of such agency shall be furnished to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in accordance with regulations promulgated by such Secretary) as necessary for the purposes of the National Directory of New Hires established under section 453(i) of the Social Security Act, and (C) such safeguards are established as are necessary (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in regulations) to insure that information furnished under subparagraph (A) or (B) is used only for the purposes authorized under such subparagraph; (17) any interest required to be paid on advances under title XII of the Social Security Act shall be paid in a timely manner and shall not be paid, directly or indirectly (by an equivalent reduction in State unemployment taxes or otherwise) by such State from amounts in such State's unemployment fund; (18) Federal individual income tax from unemployment compensation is to be deducted and withheld if an individual receiving such compensation voluntarily requests such deduction and withholding; and (19) all the rights, privileges, or immunities conferred by such law or by acts done pursuant thereto shall exist subject to the power of the legislature to amend or repeal such law at any time.
Notification
The Secretary of Labor shall, upon approving such law, notify the governor of the State of his approval.
Certification
On October 31 of each taxable year the Secretary of Labor shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury each State whose law he has previously approved, except that he shall not certify any State which, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing to the State agency, the Secretary of Labor finds has amended its law so that it no longer contains the provisions specified in subsection (a) or has with respect to the 12-month period ending on such October 31 failed to comply substantially with any such provision in such subsection. No finding of a failure to comply substantially with any provision in paragraph (5) of subsection (a) shall be based on an application or interpretation of State law (1) until all administrative review provided for under the laws of the State has been exhausted, or (2) with respect to which the time for judicial review provided by the laws of the State has not expired, or (3) with respect to which any judicial review is pending. On October 31 of any taxable year, the Secretary of Labor shall not certify any State which, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing to the State agency, the Secretary of Labor finds has failed to amend its law so that it contains each of the provisions required by law to be included therein (including provisions relating to the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (or any amendments thereto) as required under subsection (a)(11)), or has, with respect to the twelve-month period ending on such October 31, failed to comply substantially with any such provision.
Notice of noncertification
If at any time the Secretary of Labor has reason to believe that a State whose law he has previously approved may not be certified under subsection (c), he shall promptly so notify the governor of such State.
Change of law during 12-month period
Whenever— (1) any provision of this section, section 3302, or section 3303 refers to a 12-month period ending on October 31 of a year, and (2) the law applicable to one portion of such period differs from the law applicable to another portion of such period, then such provision shall be applied by taking into account for each such portion the law applicable to such portion.
Definition of institution of higher education
For purposes of subsection (a)(6), the term "institution of higher education" means an educational institution in any State which— (1) admits as regular students only individuals having a certificate of graduation from a high school, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate; (2) is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond high school; (3) provides an educational program for it which awards a bachelor's or higher degree, or provides a program which is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree, or offers a program of training to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation; and (4) is a public or other nonprofit institution.
Source: official text