HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 176        FILED ON: 1/12/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1745

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Paul McMurtry

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act  to overhaul the QUEST system.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 176        FILED ON: 1/12/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1745

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 3396 OF 2013-2014.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act  to overhaul the QUEST system.

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.  Section 1 of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after paragraph (g1/2), the following paragraph:-

(g3/4) “DUA QUEST Revenue System”, online service maintained by the division of unemployment assistance within the department of workforce development for the purpose of registration of employers, wage and employment reporting, tax calculation and other payment processes.

SECTION 2.  Section 1 of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after paragraph (q), the following paragraph:-

(q1/2) “Third party administrator”, any person or entity authorized by an employer to conduct business on their behalf, including but not limited to certified public accountants, payroll companies and other fiscal intermediaries.

SECTION 3.  Chapter 151A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 63 the following section:-

Section 63A.  The director of the department of unemployment assistance shall redesign the DUA QUEST Revenue System for employers and third party agents.  The primary goal of the redesign effort shall be to simply the DUA QUEST Revenue System and reduce the administrative burden on employers and third party agents that use the system to comply with the requirements of this chapter.  The redesign effort shall be completed in the following manner:

(a)The department shall solicit feedback from users by any means the director deems appropriate; provided, however, that such solicitation shall continue for a period of at least 90 days and shall include at least one public meeting.  The department shall incorporate such user feedback into its redesign effort to the extent the director deems appropriate.

(b)The department shall ensure that the DUA QUEST Revenue System retains the following functions throughout the redesign effort:

(1)employers will be able to view complete and up-to-date account information and update account and demographic data in real-time via a secure self-service portal;

(2)wage and employment filings, unemployment insurance and unemployment health insurance tax filings can be completed in a single process online;

(3)taxes due will be calculated online and employers can make payments via secure electronic payment processing;

(4)employers and third party administrators will be able to file electronically and process payments; the system will calculate taxes due by tracking taxable and excess wages based on the employers’ rates and status with the department;

(5)third party administrators will be able to submit electronic wage and employment files containing all their employer accounts in one file; bulk payments with application to individual accounts shall also be available;

(6)employers will be able to manage their account security and assign multiple third party administrators or internal employees to the system; and

(7)employers will be able to view their benefits paid charging statements and rating or charge billing information directly online.

(c)The department shall complete the entire redesign effort including solicitation of user feedback within one year.

(d)Upon completion of the redesign effort, the department shall provide periodic in person and online training opportunities for employers and third party administrators at no additional charge.

(e)The provisions of this section shall be completed by December 31st, 2014.