HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1650        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1814

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to unemployment insurance reform..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Subsection (i) of section 14 of chapter 151A, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (1) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

With respect to calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2008, the experience rate of an employer qualifying therefore under subsection (b) shall be the rate which appears in the column headed by the unemployment compensation reserve percentage as of the applicable computation date and on the line with the applicable employer account reserve percentage as set forth in the experience rate table:

SECTION 2.  Paragraph (2) of subsection (i) of section 14 of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby repealed.

SECTION 3.  Paragraph (a) of Section 24 of said chapter 151A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out in its entirety said paragraph and inserting in place thereof a new paragraph;

(a) Have been paid wages in the base period amounting to at least forty times the weekly benefit rate; provided, however, that for the period beginning on January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-five the individual has been paid wages in at least two quarters of the base period amounting to at least thirty times the weekly benefit rate; provided, further, that said amount shall be increased annually proportionately, rounding to the nearest one hundred dollars, to any increases which have occurred during the prior calendar year in the minimum wage as set forth in section one of chapter one hundred and fifty-one; and, provided further, that any such increase shall be effective beginning on the first Sunday in January.              

SECTION 4.  Section 30 of said chapter 151A, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (a) in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following subsection: –

                (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the total benefits which an unemployed individual may receive during his benefit year shall be an amount equal to thirty-six percent of his wages in the base period, or an amount equal to thirty times his benefit rate, whichever is less, plus dependency benefits payable under section 29; provided, that if in any month the average state-wide unemployment rate for the prior 6 months, as determined by the United States Department of Labor, is equal to or below 5.1 percent, the total benefits which an unemployed individual who then files a claim may receive during his benefit year shall be an amount equal to 36 per cent of his wages in the base period or an amount equal to 26 times his benefit rate, whichever is less, plus dependency benefits payable under said section 29. If such amount includes a fractional part of a dollar, it shall be rounded to the next lower full dollar amount

SECTION 5.  Section 14G of said chapter 151A is hereby repealed. 

 SECTION 6.  All proceeds accumulated in the Medical Security Trust Fund on the date of dissolution, shall be deposited in the unemployment insurance trust fund.