SB1296

THE CONTEXT: The Department of Economic Security (DES) administers the unemployment insurance benefit program, which provides temporary financial relief to eligible unemployed individuals who separate from their previous employers at no fault of their own. To be eligible for UI benefits, an individual must be able to work, available for work and actively seeking work.

WHAT THE BILL DID: The final vetoed version would modify eligibility requirements by adding that an individual must actively seek and apply for suitable work and: a) conduct at least five specified work search actions each week to qualify as actively seeking and applying for suitable work; and b) provide a weekly report that details the individual's work search actions for every week a benefit is sought, remove the requirement of an individual to engage in a systematic and sustained effort to obtain work during at least four days of the week and make at least one job contact per day on four different days of the week to be eligible for UI benefits. UI Claim Validity, and prohibit DES from paying benefits until the initial claim, or an ongoing claim on a weekly basis, is cross-checked for validity against specified data sets.

WHY IT MATTERED: The practical reason for this bill was to give the people who rely on the rule clearer information and a defined reporting process. It would modify eligibility requirements by adding that an individual must actively seek and apply for suitable work and: a) conduct at least five specified work search actions each week to qualify as actively seeking and applying for suitable work; and b) provide a weekly report that details the individual's work search actions for every week a benefit is sought, and would also remove the requirement of an individual to engage in a systematic and sustained effort to obtain work during at least four days of the week and make at least one job contact per day on four different days of the week to be eligible for UI benefits. UI Claim Validity, rather than leave the current rule unchanged.