42 U.S.C. § 1108 — Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation

(a) Establishment. By February 1, 1992, and every fourth year after that, the Secretary of Labor must establish an advisory council called the “Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation,” or the “Council.” (b) Function. Each Council must evaluate the unemployment-compensation program, including its purpose, goals, countercyclical effectiveness, coverage, adequacy of benefits, trust-fund solvency, funding of State administrative costs, administrative efficiency, and any other part of the program. It must make recommendations for improvement. This section does not define “countercyclical effectiveness.” (c) Members. (1) Each Council has 11 members: (A) 5 appointed by the President, including representatives of business, labor, State government, and the public; (B) 3 appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate after consulting the Chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee; and (C) 3 appointed by the Speaker of the House after consulting the Chairman and ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee. (2) For appointments under (B) and (C), each appointing official must appoint (A) 1 representative of business interests, (B) 1 representative of labor interests, and (C) 1 representative of State-government interests. (3) A vacancy must be filled in the same way as the original appointment. (4) The President appoints the Chairman from among the members. (d) Staff and other assistance. (1) Each Council may obtain technical help, including actuarial services, needed to perform its functions. (2) The Secretary of Labor must provide the staff, office space, other help, and Department of Labor data that the Council needs. (e) Compensation. (1) Each member is entitled to Level V Executive Schedule pay under section 5316 of title 5 for each day, including travel time, spent actually performing Council duties. (2) When performing those duties away from home or the member’s regular business location, the member may receive travel expenses, including per diem instead of subsistence, as section 5703 of title 5 allows for intermittently employed Government personnel. (f) Report. (1) By February 1 of the third year after the year in which a Council must be established, the Council must send the President and Congress a report containing its findings and recommendations from evaluating unemployment compensation. (2) The first Council’s report, due by February 1, 1995, must include findings and recommendations about deciding eligibility for extended unemployment benefits using unemployment statistics for regions, States, or parts of States.