1996-02-09                     House Journal                      Page 2690
HB 483                                                                       
The following fiscal note applies:                                             
                                                                               
Fiscal note, Dept. of Labor/All Departments, 2/9/96                            
                                                                               
The Governor's transmittal letter, dated February 9, 1996, appears             
below:                                                                         
                                                                               
Dear Speaker Phillips:                                                         
                                                                               
Under the authority of art. III, sec. 18, of the Alaska Constitution, I am     
transmitting a bill increasing unemployment insurance benefits.                
                                                                               
For years the unemployment insurance system has enabled Alaska                 
workers, their families, and their communities to weather periods of           
unemployment with their economic well-being and dignity intact.                
Recent events in Sitka and Wrangell, as well as in other areas of the          
state affected by plant closures or layoffs, have demonstrated all too         
well the importance of this safety net for our working men and                 
women.                                                                         
                                                                               
The schedule of benefits for unemployment insurance has not been               
adjusted to increase the maximum weekly benefit amount since 1990.             
Alaska currently ranks 49th in the nation in unemployment insurance            
wage replacement, with the average weekly benefit amount only                  
slightly more than 27 percent of the average weekly wage for the state.        
In terms of the maximum weekly benefit amount, Alaska ranks 35th               
in the nation, notwithstanding the higher cost of living here.                 
                                                                               
The current benefit schedule uses a workers yearly wage to determine           
the weekly benefit amount.  The minimum qualifying wage amount is              
$1,000, which provides a weekly unemployment insurance benefit                 
amount of $44.  For each $250 a worker earns over $1,000, two                  
dollars is added to the benefit amount.  Weekly benefits are now               
capped at $212 based on maximum wages of $22,250.                              
                                                                               
This bill would keep the current benefit schedule in place but would           
replace the current fixed cap with a flexible cap.  The new cap on             
wages would be 75 percent of the average annual Alaska wage, exactly           
the same as the wage base on which employers and workers are taxed             
to support the system.  Bringing the maximum qualifying wages up to