2002 House Bill 5763 ↩

Senate Roll Call 320: Passed

To increase the state maximum weekly unemployment insurance benefit from $300 to $315, and increase the additional dependent benefit from $6 to $20 per person, up to a maximum of five dependents, or a potential total maximum weekly benefit of $415. The bill would also lower the amount of an employee's pay on which the unemployment insurance assessments of employers are based, and lower the non-chargeable benefit tax on employers who have had no benefit claims in five or more years. It would consider severance pay in determining when a claimant would first be eligible for benefits, and require a beneficiary to accept alternative work that pays at least 70% of the previous compensation at any time (rather than a sliding scale of 80-percent dropping to 70-percent over time). Finally, the bill would require an Indian tribe which lays off an employee who then collects unemployment insurance benefits to reimburse the state unemployment insurance fund, or alternatively, to regularly contribute to the fund on the same basis as other employers.