Bill > A3223

Introduced Session

This bill allocates available moneys from federal assistance to the unemployment compensation fund (fund). The money will be deposited into the fund in order to pay back any balance in federal unemployment insurance loan advances, pursuant to Title XII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. s. 1321 et seq.), as of the end of each fiscal year 2022, 2023, and 2024. The bill requires that, annually after any deposit of federal government assistance into the unemployment compensation fund, the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development is to submit a report to the Legislature, which would include information concerning the solvency of the unemployment compensation fund. The report is to include, but need not be limited to: (1) the total amount of federal loan advances that were paid back as of the day of the report; (2) the Department of Labor and Workforce Development's estimate on the total funds needed to be deposited by the March 31 trigger to avoid an increase in the calculation of the contribution rate for employers if the employment market remains unchanged at the end of the calendar year; (3) the department's estimate on the total funds needed to be deposited by the March 31 trigger to reduce a column in the calculation of the contribution rate for employers if the employment market remains unchanged at the end of the calendar year; (4) the department's estimate concerning the aggregate cost to employers for a column increase or decrease in the contribution rate calculation; and (5) the department's estimate concerning the time it would take to reduce each column in the contribution rate calculation based on natural historic employment growth in-between economic downturns without any deposit provided pursuant to the bill. Current law requires that unemployment contribution rates for employers, for fiscal year 2022, will be the rates set by column "C" of the of the experience rating table, for FY 2023 the rates in column "D", and for FY 2024 the rates in column "E". The bill modifies this provision of law to specify that notwithstanding any other provision of law concerning the actual fund reserve ratio, the contribution rate for employers liable to pay contributions for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, would be the rates set by column "C" of the table. The bill provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law concerning the actual fund reserve ratio, the contribution rate for employers liable to pay contributions, for fiscal years after fiscal year 2024 will be the rates set by column "C" of the table in that subparagraph, unless the application of the provisions of this paragraph (5) using the actual fund reserve ratio would result in the contribution rate for employers being set by a column which has lower tax rates than the rates in column "C", in which case the employers will be liable to pay contributions at the rates set by the column with the lower tax rates. This bill provides that, for the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2023, for purposes of calculating employer and employee contribution rates to the unemployment compensation fund, wages will be defined as: (1) the amount of taxable wages established under the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act"; and (2) any additional wages that are at least $38,200 and up to $57,000 per calendar year; and (3) any additional wages that are at least $500,000 per calendar year.

AI Summary

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Aura Dunn (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document