New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act

This legislation aims to streamline and expand state self-employment assistance programs by removing the requirement that participants must be likely to exhaust their regular unemployment compensation, thereby broadening eligibility. It modifies the criteria for approved self-employment activities, now requiring them to include either entrepreneurial training, business counseling, and technical assistance , or be based on an individual's approved business plan and market feasibility study , while also introducing a new requirement for participants to certify their activities on a weekly basis. A significant change is the adjustment of the limitation on program participation, increasing it from 5 percent to 10 percent of individuals receiving regular unemployment compensation. These amendments will take effect two years after enactment, allowing states time to adapt their laws and implement the new regulations to be issued by the Secretary of Labor.