Help FEDS Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
Requires State unemployment compensation laws to let excepted federal employees receive unemployment benefits during fiscal year 2026 or 2027 shutdowns, requires repayment after backpay, and reimburses States fully for benefits and administrative costs.
Who Benefits and How
Excepted federal employees working without pay during covered shutdowns could receive temporary unemployment compensation, and States would be made whole for benefits and added administrative costs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
State unemployment systems would need to process claims, recover later overpayments, and manage State-fund deposits, while Treasury and Labor would need to certify and make reimbursement payments.
Key Provisions
- Requires State unemployment laws to allow excepted federal employees to receive unemployment compensation while performing emergency work during covered shutdowns.
- Requires repayment and overpayment recovery if the employee later receives backpay for the same period.
- Requires Treasury to reimburse each State for 100 percent of paid benefits and related administrative expenses, based on Labor certifications.
- Defines excepted federal employee for purposes of the new shutdown unemployment provisions.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires State unemployment compensation laws to let excepted federal employees receive unemployment benefits during fiscal year 2026 or 2027 shutdowns, requires repayment after backpay, and reimburses States fully for benefits and administrative costs.
Key Policy Areas
Labor, Government Operations, Social Programs
Primary Purpose
Requires State unemployment compensation laws to let excepted federal employees receive unemployment benefits during fiscal year 2026 or 2027 shutdowns, requires repayment after backpay, and reimburses States fully for benefits and administrative costs.
Policy Domains
Main Provisions
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Excepted federal employees and States administering shutdown unemployment support
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- State unemployment agencies and federal officials administering reimbursements and recoveries
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Alsobrooks (for herself, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Kaine, Mr. …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Excepted federal employees working emergency duties without pay during covered shutdowns, State unemployment agencies and federal officials administering claims, certifications, repayments, and overpayment recovery
Positive-direction: Excepted federal employees working emergency duties without pay during covered shutdowns
Negative-direction: State unemployment agencies and federal officials administering claims, certifications, repayments, and overpayment recovery
States paying benefits and receiving full federal reimbursement for shutdown unemployment claims
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "secretary_of_labor"
- → Secretary of Labor
- "secretary_of_treasury"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology