Rep. Smucker introduces bill in U.S. House to strengthen unemployment identity checks and work search requirements

The new bill, authored by U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker in the U.S. House, aims to enhance identity verification and work search procedures for unemployment benefits, according to the U.S. Congress.

H.R.7847 was introduced on March 5, 2026 during the 2026 regular session of the 119th Congress. The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill aims to amend the Social Security Act and the Federal Unemployment Tax Act to enhance identity verification and work search requirements for unemployment compensation. It mandates state agencies to implement procedures to verify claimant identities, requiring valid government-issued IDs and additional supporting documents within 12 months of enactment. The bill also establishes data matching requirements to mitigate unemployment fraud, including the use of the National Directory of New Hires for comparison. States must confirm eligibility before disbursing payments and are prohibited from relying solely on self-attestation. The Secretary of Labor will monitor compliance and may withhold funds from non-compliant states. These regulations will take effect two years post-enactment, with guidelines for verifying work searches also to be defined in that timeframe.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (Republican-PA-11th District) and co-sponsored by Rep. Jodey C. Arrington (Republican-PA-19th District), Rep. Vern Buchanan (Republican-PA-16th District), and Rep. Aaron Bean (Republican-PA-4th District), along with 12 other sponsors.

Since the beginning of the current session, Rep. Smucker has introduced another 27 bills.

A related bill, S.4016, was also introduced in the Senate on March 5, 2026. Congressional records list it as an identical companion bill to H.R.7847.

Congressional bills can originate in either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate, except for revenue-related measures, which must begin in the House. After introduction, bills are assigned to committees for review, hearings, amendments and debate before they can advance to a vote in each chamber. If both chambers approve identical versions, the legislation is sent to the president, who may sign it into law or veto it. Congress operates in two-year terms, with each term numbered sequentially and divided into two annual sessions. The legislative process and official bill records are maintained by the U.S. Congress and published through Congress.gov.

Lloyd K. Smucker is a Representative from Pennsylvania who has served in Congress since January 3, 2017. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 2009 to 2016 and has held various local government positions, including the West Lampeter planning commission and township board of supervisors.

Smucker attended Lebanon Valley College and Franklin & Marshall College from 1988 to 1991.

Information in this article was obtained from the U.S. Congress. The source data can be found here.