New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act
Latest action · Apr 28, 2026 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedDec 4, 2025
- Passed HouseApr 27, 2026
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act
This bill increases the percentage of individuals who may participate in a Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program, generally expands eligibility for such programs, and modifies certain SEA program requirements.
As background, an SEA program provides an individual with an SEA allowance, rather than regular unemployment compensation benefits, if such individual is (1) eligible for unemployment compensation benefits and identified as likely to exhaust such benefits, (2) participating in self-employment assistance activities which include entrepreneurial training, business counseling, and technical assistance and are approved by the state, and (3) working full-time on establishing a business and becoming self-employed. Under current law, the number of individuals participating in an SEA program may not exceed 5% of the individuals receiving regular unemployment compensation benefits in the state.
The bill
- increases the percentage of individuals who may participate in a state SEA program to 10%,
- eliminates the requirement that an individual be determined likely to exhaust unemployment compensation benefits (generally expanding individual eligibility for an SEA program), and
- requires individuals to certify (at least weekly) that they are working full-time on establishing a business and becoming self-employed.
Finally, the bill allows individuals to meet the requirement to participate in state-approved self-employment assistance activities if such activities either (1) include entrepreneurial training, business counseling, and technical assistance (permitted under current law); or (2) are performed pursuant to a state-approved business plan and market feasibility study.
Cosponsors 6
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Dec 4, 2025 to Dec 17, 2025; 5 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-OH | Greg Landsman | Original | Dec 4, 2025 |
| R-OH | Max L. Miller | Original | Dec 4, 2025 |
| R-TX | Nathaniel Moran | Original | Dec 4, 2025 |
| R-IA | Randy Feenstra | Original | Dec 4, 2025 |
| R-IN | Rudy Yakym III | Original | Dec 4, 2025 |
| D-VA | Eugene Simon Vindman | Dec 17, 2025 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Dec 4, 2025Markup Jan 14, 2026Reported Feb 20, 2026 |
| Senate | Finance Committee | Referred Apr 28, 2026 |
Actions 12
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 28, 2026Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Apr 27, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3114)
- Apr 27, 2026Mr. Carey moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Apr 27, 2026Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3114-3115)
- Apr 27, 2026DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6431.
- Apr 27, 2026Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- Feb 20, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-509.
- Feb 20, 2026Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 435.
- Jan 14, 2026Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jan 14, 2026Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 41 - 0.
- Dec 4, 2025Introduced in House
- Dec 4, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H3114, H3115Text printed H3114 | Jimmy Panetta D-CA, Mike Carey R-OH | Apr 27, 2026 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Mar 3, 2026H.R. 6431, New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency ActAs reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means on February 20, 2026
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 203, December 4, 2025, page H5051.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R48447 | Unemployment Insurance: Legislative Issues in the 119th Congress | Report | Jul 16, 2026 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 5010 | NO BOSS Act | Related bill | Jul 16, 2026 |
Titles 6
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the rules governing the State administration of self-employment assistance programs.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act
- Short Title(s) as Reported to House
- New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act
- Short Title(s) as Passed House
- New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act
- Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
- New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act
- Official Title from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
- To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the rules governing the State administration of self-employment assistance programs.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Taxation.
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 28, 2026Referred in Senate
- Apr 27, 2026Engrossed in House
- Feb 20, 2026Reported in House
- Dec 4, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
