Bill > AB652

Introduced Session

This bill makes various changes in the unemployment insurance (UI) law, which is administered by the Department of Workforce Development. Significant changes include all of the following: BENEFIT CHANGES Benefit amounts Currently, a qualifying employee’s weekly UI benefit rates for total unemployment are calculated based upon a percentage of the wages and certain other earnings that are earned during the employee’s “base period,” which generally is the period consisting of the first four of the five most recently completed calendar year quarters. The minimum weekly benefit rate is $54, and if the employee does not qualify for at least this amount of benefits based on his or her past earnings, then the employee does not receive any benefits. The maximum weekly benefit rate is set at $370. This bill raises the maximum UI benefit rate to $395. The bill does not affect the minimum benefit rate. Suitable work; work search Current law requires that, as a condition of being eligible for UI benefits for a given week, a claimant must 1) be able to work and available for work; 2) register for work in the manner prescribed by DWD; and 3) conduct a reasonable search for suitable work. Separately, current law also makes a claimant ineligible for UI benefits if a claimant fails, without good cause, to accept suitable work when offered. This bill provides that an employer may report to DWD whenever an individual 1) declines a job interview offer; 2) declines a job offer; 3) fails to attend a scheduled job interview; or 4) fails to report for their first scheduled day of work. If DWD receives one or more verified reports that an individual who is subject to work search requirements has declined a job interview offer or failed to attend a scheduled job interview, the bill provides that the individual is not considered to have conducted a reasonable search for suitable work in that week and is therefore ineligible for benefits that week. If DWD receives one or more verified reports that an individual declined a job offer or failed to report for their first scheduled day of work, the bill provides that the individual is ineligible for benefits that week, subject to any greater disqualification that may otherwise apply regarding failure to accept suitable work. For any report submitted, the bill requires DWD to disregard the report if the claimant has good cause for the circumstances in the report. The bill requires DWD to maintain a website that allows employers to file the reports and to periodically inform employers about the availability of the website. Concurrent receipt of UI and SSDI Under current law, in any week in any month that a claimant is issued a benefit under the federal Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI payment), that claimant is ineligible for UI benefits. This bill repeals that prohibition and instead requires DWD to reduce a claimant’s UI benefit payments by one-half of the amount of SSDI payments. The bill requires DWD to allocate a monthly SSDI payment by allocating to each week the fraction of the payment attributable to that week. Penalties for obtaining benefits in the name of another person Under current law, if any person makes a false statement or representation in order to obtain UI benefits in the name of another person, the person may be required to repay the amount of the benefits obtained and to pay an additional amount equal to the amount of benefits obtained. Current law does not specify a penalty for when such a person makes a false statement or representation in order to obtain benefits in the name of another person but fails to obtain any benefits. The bill provides that if a person makes a false statement or representation on an initial claim in order to intentionally obtain benefits in the name of another person, but fails to obtain benefits, the person is subject to a penalty of $5,000. The bill also makes a number of other minor changes to the existing penalty provision. Use of electronic methods for filing, payments, and reporting Currently, with certain exceptions, each employer that has employees who are engaged in employment covered by the UI law must file quarterly contribution (tax) and employment and wage reports and make quarterly contribution payments to DWD. An employer of 25 or more employees or an employer agent that files reports on behalf of any employer must file its reports electronically. Current law also requires each employer that makes contributions for any 12-month period ending on June 30 equal to a total of at least $10,000 to make all contribution payments electronically in the following year. Finally, current law allows DWD to provide a secure means of electronic interchange between itself and employing units, claimants, and other persons that, upon request to and with prior approval by DWD, may be used for transmission or receipt of any document specified by DWD that is related to the administration of the UI law in lieu of any other means of submission or receipt. The bill makes use of these electronic methods mandatory in all cases unless the employer or other person demonstrates “good cause” for being unable to use the electronic method. The bill specifies what constitutes good cause for purposes of these provisions. The bill also makes various corresponding changes to penalty provisions that apply in the case of nonuse of these required electronic methods. The bill further provides that DWD may permit the use of electronic records and electronic signatures for any document specified by DWD that is related to the administration of the UI law. OTHER CHANGES Work search audits Current law requires DWD to conduct random audits on claimants for UI benefits to assess compliance with the work search requirements under the UI law. DWD is required to prepare and furnish to the Council on Unemployment Insurance a report summarizing DWD’s activities related to detection and prosecution of UI fraud in the preceding year, which must include information about the audits described above, including the number and results of audits performed, in the previous year. This bill requires DWD’s random audits to include at least 50 percent of claimants who were paid benefits and required to search for work, as determined by DWD. The bill also instead requires DWD to include information about the number of audits performed and determinations issued for audits performed in the preceding year. Identity proofing The bill requires DWD to implement identity-proofing measures for UI claimants who are engaging in benefit-related transactions with DWD that 1) require a claimant to verify his or her identity before filing an initial claim for benefits and when engaging in other transactions with DWD, and 2) achieve the IAL2 and AAL2 standards adopted in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Digital Identity Guidelines. Database comparisons The bill requires DWD to perform a comparison of certain state and national databases that track death records, employment records, prison records, and citizenship and immigration against applicants for UI benefits for the purposes of detecting fraud or erroneous payments, subject to their availability to DWD. The bill also allows DWD to perform the comparison on each weekly claim. The bill provides that DWD may also make such comparisons with other databases. For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

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Available for scheduling (on 01/23/2026)

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