Yet the joint federal-state Unemployment Compensation (UC) program does not provide benefits to the self-employed. It pays a weekly SEA allowance, which is identical in amount and duration to what an individual would have received as a regular UC benefit. Unlike regular UC, however, SEA waives state requirements that individuals be actively searching for wage and salary jobs. SEA allowances are available to individuals who are eligible for unemployment benefits and who meet certain other requirements. SEA is one of three programs operating within UC that focuses on the reemployment of UC beneficiaries. Although SEA offers this alternative route out of unemployment, participation in the program by states and unemployed workers is low, partly as a result of a budget neutrality requirement. P.L. 103-182 , the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, created the SEA program in 1993. 105-306 , the Noncitizen Benefit Clarification and Other Technical Amendments Act of 1998, made the program permanent. The SEA program is financed—as is the case with UC, in general—by federal taxes on employers under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and by state payroll taxes on employers under the State Unemployment Tax Acts (SUTA). P.L. 112-96 , the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, authorized the expansion of SEA to permit states to set up SEA programs available to certain claimants in the Extended Benefit (EB) and temporary, now-expired Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) programs. P.L. Rather, SEA beneficiaries must engage in full-time activities related to the establishment of a business and becoming self-employed. To be eligible for a SEA allowance, workers must meet the following requirements:
Eligible for UC Permanently laid off from previous job Identified as likely to exhaust UC benefits Participating in self-employment activities including entrepreneurial training, business counseling, and technical assistance
States identify UC claimants likely to exhaust benefits through the same worker profiling mechanism used in the WPRS program. State Availability of SEA for UC Claimants

In 2016, 10 states have active SEA programs for UC claimants (authorization for the SEA program in New York is scheduled to expire December 7, 2017). The authorizing legislation also requires that a SEA program be budget neutral. Designed to help individuals start or expand their own businesses, Project GATE provided self-employment training and other services.
Self-employment is one potential pathway to exit a spell of unemployment. The regular Unemployment Compensation (UC) program generally requires unemployed workers to be actively seeking work and to be available for wage and salary jobs as a condition of eligibility for UC benefits. These requirements constitute a barrier to self-employment and small business creation for unemployed workers who need income support. The Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program, however, provides an avenue for combining income support during periods of unemployment with activities related to starting one's own business.
Thus, within the joint federal-state UC program, the SEA program focuses on the reemployment of UC beneficiaries. State SEA programs help unemployed workers generate their own jobs through small business creation. SEA waives state UC work search requirements for those individuals who are working full time to establish their own small businesses. SEA provides a weekly allowance in the same amount and for the same duration as regular UC benefits. It is available only to individuals who would otherwise be entitled to UC benefits and have been determined likely to exhaust their UC benefits. Despite the unique configuration of SEA, which pairs self-employment activities and income support, participation in the program by states as well as unemployed workers is limited. Currently, only 10 states have active SEA programs for UC claimants, and in one of these states—New York—authorization for the SEA program is scheduled to expire December 7, 2017. In part, the small-scale nature of the program is likely due to the authorizing legislation requirement that SEA be budget neutral; that is, no UC funds may be used to provide self-employment training.
P.L. 103-182, the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, created the SEA program on December 8, 1993. It was permanently authorized by P.L. 105-306, the Noncitizen Benefit Clarification and Other Technical Amendments Act, which was signed on October 28, 1998. Like the rest of UC, the SEA program is financed by federal taxes under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and by state payroll taxes under the State Unemployment Tax Acts (SUTA).
Most recently, provisions in P.L. 112-96, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, gave states the authority to expand SEA participation to certain claimants in the Extended Benefit (EB) and temporary, now-expired Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) programs.