Amendments to State Unemployment Insurance Laws
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Washington, D.C. 20210
REPORT ON STATE LEGISLATION
REPORT NO. 2
July 06, 2001
Amendments to State Unemployment Insurance Laws
ARKANSAS |
H2027
(Act 1477) |
ENACTED and EFFECTIVE
April 11, 2001 |
Administration
Provides that requests for wage and unemployment compensation information by officers or
employees of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and
representatives of a public housing agency must be processed within three business days.
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ARKANSAS |
SB 254
|
ENACTED and EFFECTIVE
March 13, 2001 |
Benefits
Provides that work offered to an individual by a base-period or last employer at earnings
equal to or greater than the individual earned from the base-period or last employer is
deemed suitable work, unless certain factors are applicable (such as failure to meet
prevailing conditions, risk to heath, safety, morals, etc.) and it would be contrary to
good conscience to deem such work suitable.
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ARKANSAS |
S438
(Act 1528) |
ENACTED and EFFECTIVE
April 12, 2001 |
Financing
Permits an employer doing business out-of-State to elect a 2.9 percent new employer rate
or an in-State experience rate based on its experience in the other State(s), provided the
employer:
- has at least three years of experience in the other State(s);
- provides an authenticated account history from the other State(s) ; and
- conducts business in Arkansas of the same nature as in the other State(s),
as defined by the North American Industry Classification System.
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ARKANSAS |
S822
(Act 1367) |
ENACTED April 6, 2001
EFFECTIVE upon enactment or as otherwise indicated |
Administration
Reinstates provision allowing disclosure of wage and UC information to the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and to representatives of public housing
agencies concerning applicants for or participants in housing assistance programs
administered by HUD.
Amends law to allow disclosure of employee UC information to the State of Arkansas
Disability Determination for Social Security Administration and, pursuant to a subpoena,
the Arkansas Insurance Department Workers= Compensation Fraud Investigation Unit.
Beginning July 1, 2001, provides that applications for review and redeterminations must be
made the first time charges appear on an employer=s account; subsequent charges for the
same claimant in the same benefit year may not be challenged.
Benefits
Clarifies that a Aseasonal industry@ means an industry in which, among other things, it
is customary to lay off forty percent or more of the average monthly number of workers for
at least four consecutive months during a regularly recurring period of each year.
Provides that vacation payments received due to a permanent separation from employment
shall not be disqualifying nor deductible from UC.
Changes the application period of a disqualification for willful false statement from two
to five years.
Amends provisions relating to overpayments to:
- beginning, July 1, 2001, provide that overpayments can be collected only by
deduction from future benefits after ten years;
- impose interest on overpayments due to fraud; and
- beginning, July 1, 2001, assess a ten percent penalty on fraud overpayments
not repaid within one year.
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COLORADO |
H1251
(CH 28) |
ENACTED March 28, 2001
EFFECTIVE January 1, 2002
|
Administration
Changes references in provision concerning assignment of tax rates for new employers in
the construction industry to reflect shift from Standard Industrial Classification codes
to the North American Industry Classification System codes.
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INDIANA |
H1025
|
ENACTED April 18, 2001
EFFECTIVE Upon enactment |
Administration
Provides that the commissioner of workforce development may adjust the employer's
estimated contribution rate, after the period for the employer to provide a timely
payroll report, if the employer or other interested party:
- shows reasonable cause for failure to file the payroll report on time, and
- submits accurate and reliable payroll reports.
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MARYLAND |
H1205
|
ENACTED March 15, 2001
EFFECTIVE October 1, 2001 |
Coverage
Provides that a municipal police officer appointed by the Carroll County sheriff as a
special deputy sheriff for the county shall remain an employee of the municipal
corporation for unemployment insurance purposes.
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MISSISSIPPI |
HB 699
(CH 32) |
ENACTED March 13, 2001
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2001 |
Financing
Specifies that employer contributions are due and payable on a calendar quarterly basis,
at the end of the month succeeding each quarter.
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MONTANA |
SB 428 |
ENACTED April 21, 2001
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2001 |
Benefits
Raises the maximum weekly benefit amount from 60 percent to 63 percent of the State
average weekly wage for claims filed on or after July 1, 2001.
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NORTH DAKOTA |
HB 1087 |
ENACTED and EFFECTIVE
March 13, 2001 |
Administration
For purposes of determining new employer rates, changes employer industrial classification
codes from the two-digit major group in the standard industrial classification (SIC)
system to the three-digit major group code in the North American industrial classification
(NAIC) system. Employers who are liable for coverage before August 1, 2002, however,
remain under the SIC unless they are classified (according to the SIC) within the
construction industry.
Financing
Eliminates the requirement for a hearing when a predecessor files a timely written protest
of a transfer of experience and provides that no such transfer will occur if the
predecessor files a timely written protest.
Prohibits an employing unit=s experience record from being transferred in an amount that
results in the successor and predecessor portions totaling more than one hundred percent
of the predecessor=s history.
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NORTH DAKOTA |
HB 1251
|
ENACTED and EFFECTIVE
April 13, 2001 |
Coverage
Provides that a manager of a limited liability company is included within the definition
of Aemployee@ only if the company is treated as a corporation for purposes of Federal
income taxation.
Provides that service performed by an owner of a general partnership, limited partnership,
limited liability partnership, limited liability limited partnership, or a limited
liability company, is included within the definition of Aemployment@ only if the
organization is treated as a corporation for purposes of Federal income taxation.
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NORTH DAKOTA |
HB 1319
|
ENACTED and EFFECTIVE
April 18, 2001 |
Coverage
Provides that the optional exclusion from "employment" for managers with one-fourth or
greater ownership interest in a limited liability company does not apply to limited
liability companies wholly owned by or operating as an Indian tribe, state or local
government, or nonprofit organization for whom services performed are required by Federal
law to be covered by the State's UC law.
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NORTH DAKOTA |
S2017
(CH
52) |
ENACTED April 27, 2001
EFFECTIVE Retroactive to January 1,
2000 |
Financing
Eliminates the provision prohibiting a negative employer, who was a negative employer
the previous year, from making excess contributions to the States unemployment fund
to become a positive employer.
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UTAH |
HB 52 |
ENACTED and EFFECTIVE
March 15, 2001 |
Administration
Directs the Division of Workforce Information and Payment Services to prescribe rules
providing standards for determining which contribution reports must be filed on magnetic
media or in other machine-readable form. Provides that the rules may not require any
employer to file contribution reports on magnetic media unless the employer is required
to file wage data on at least 250 employees during any calendar year. Requires the
division, in developing the rules, to take into account the ability of the employer to
comply at reasonable cost. Permits the division to require employers to post a bond for
failure to comply with the rules.
Amends law concerning access to records to allow disclosure of personally-identifiable
information about an individual to:
- an employee of the Department of Workforce Services (Department) administering
programs other than the UI program,
- a government employee or workers= compensation insurer to the extent the
information will aid in the detection or avoidance of duplicate, inconsistent, or
fraudulent claims against a workers= compensation program or the recovery of
overpayments of workers= compensation funds,
- an employee or contractor of the department or an educational institution or
other governmental entity engaged in workforce investment and development
activities pursuant to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 for the purpose of
coordinating services with the Department, evaluating the effectiveness of those
activities, and measuring performance,
- the public for any purpose following a written waiver by all interested parties
of their rights to nondisclosure, and
- an individual whose wage data has been submitted to the Department by an
employer, so long as no information other than the individual=s wage data and the
identity of the party who submitted the information is provided to the individual
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Virgina |
HB 2691 |
ENACTED AND EFFECTIVE
March 14, 2001 |
Administration
Clarifies that a fee may not be deducted from UC that is subject to child support
withholding. (Resolves a pending issue.)
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WASHINGTON |
SB 5316 (CH99) |
ENACTED April 19, 2001
EFFECTIVE Weeks beginning after March 31, 2001 |
Benefits
Clarifies that for individuals who serve in a principal administrative, research, or
instructional capacity in a community or technical college, but are between terms,
"reasonable assurance" of continued employment does not exist when an offer is conditioned
upon enrollment, funding, or program changes.
Provides additional guidance for determining when "reasonable assurance" exists.
Specifies that individuals with tenure or tenure track status are considered to have
reasonable assurance of continued employment.
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WASHINGTON |
SB 5317 (CH 100)
|
ENACTED and EFFECTIVE
April 19, 2001 |
Benefits
Clarifies that benefits based on any and all service in an instructional, research, or
principal administrative capacity for any and all educational institutions shall not be
paid to an individual for any week of unemployment which commences during the period
between two successive academic years or terms if the individual has reasonable assurance
of continued employment.
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