A bill to amend the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 with respect to the effect of the 1985 increase in the Federal unemployment tax rate on certain small business provisions contained in State unemployment compensation laws.
Public Law 98-601 · H.R. 6112 · 98th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 30, 1984 · Labor and Employment
Sponsor: Rep. Daniel Rostenkowski (D-IL-8)
Cosponsors (7): Rep. Lynn Martin, Rep. Lane Evans,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act to provide that States which allow certain small businesses to pay a nonexperience-based State unemployment tax rate below 5.4 percent may gradually increase the unemployment tax rate for such businesses over a four-year period to equal the new 5.4 percent standard State unemployment tax rate for 1985 and thereafter.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Ways and Means Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Work and Welfare Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Oct 30, 1984Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-601.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 19, 1984PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 11, 1984FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Oct 3, 1984FloorFloor · Held at the desk by unanimous consent.
- Oct 1, 1984FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- Sep 20, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Ways and Means Committee
- Sep 19, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Ways and Means Committee
- Sep 13, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Work and Welfare Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Work and Welfare Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee
- Aug 20, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Work and Welfare Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee
- Aug 9, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Ways and Means Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.