Legislature(2025 - 2026)BARNES 124
04/28/2025 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Board of Marital & Family Therapy | |
| HB193 | |
| Board of Marital & Family Therapy | |
| HB192 | |
| HB161 | |
| Board of Marital & Family Therapy | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 192 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 193 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 161 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 192-UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
5:07:45 PM
CO-CHAIR HALL announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 192, "An Act relating to the payment of
unemployment compensation benefits; relating to a penalty for
late unemployment benefit payments; relating to inflation
adjustments to unemployment benefit amounts; relating to an
insured worker's availability for work; and providing for an
effective date."
5:08:21 PM
}REPRESENTATIVE TED EISCHEID* Alaska State Legislature* Juneau,
Alaska* As prime sponsor, presented HB 192.{ as prime sponsor,
presented HB 192. He began his presentation on the second slide
of a PowerPoint [included in the committee file], titled "HB
192: Unemployment Benefits," which read [original punctuation
provided]:
The mission of Alaska' state unemployment insurance
program is to:
Provide temporary wage replacement for individuals who
lose a job through no fault of their own; to protect
employers against the dispersal of a trained workforce
while temporary shutdowns are necessary; to facilitate
reemployment; and to help stabilize the economy.
REPRESENTATIVE TED EISCHEID noted that HB 192 was particularly
important in the face of federal layoffs, changes in the size
and scope of the federal government and workforce, and massive
departures in Alaska due to education funding issues and pension
benefit issues. He asserted that unemployment insurance is a
unique safety net for Alaska residents. He explained that, due
to federal requirements, payroll taxes paid by employers are put
into the UI trust fund. He explained that Alaska additionally
puts taxes collected from Alaska workers into the trust fund.
He stated that, because contributions are required to be a
percentage of individual workers' salaries, the contributions
are essentially inflation-proof. He also noted that funds
deposited into the UI trust fund can only be used to pay for
unemployment benefits, which protects the fund from
reappropriation. He further explained that, because Alaska
Statute (AS) sets the payment amounts for insured workers and
because the weekly benefit table in AS is not adjusted annually,
there is no comparable inflation-proofing effect in the payments
issued to workers claiming unemployment insurance.
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID referred to the third slide and gave an
overview of the benefits of unemployment insurance (UI), which
read [original punctuation provided]:
Unemployment insurance helps Alaskans bridge the gap
between jobs and helps ensure they are able to
successfully get back to work after periods of
unemployment.
In calendar year 2024, 19,651 Alaskans (or about ` out
of every 50 Alaskans) qualified for and received as
least one unemployment insurance weekly benefit
payment after being separated from employment
Employer and employee contributions organically
increase over time as wages increase, yet unemployment
benefit payouts have not increased in sixteen years
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID stressed that unemployment
insurance was not a handout and was not intended to
function as a replacement salary.
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID moved to the fourth slide and began
to describe the provisions under HB 192, which read
[original punctuation provided]:
Increases the weekly benefit amount that qualifying
unemployed Alaskans receive for the first time since
2009.
5:14:16 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID moved through the fifth, sixth, and
seventh slides and continued to describe the provisions under HB
192, which read [original punctuation provided]:
Increases the weekly supplemental allowance that
qualifying unemployed Alaskans receive for each of up
to three dependents, for the first time since 2009.
Implements an annual unemployment benefit adjustment,
and ties the benefit adjustment increment to the
average percentage of increase of the urban Alaska
Consumer Price Index over the most recent three-year
period
Requires timely payment of benefits to ensured workers
on weeks that include a holidy
Requires DOL&WD to issue prompt payment to
unemployment recipients following successful appeal of
a denied claim
Requires that payments to insured workers continue
uninterrupted in instances where additional
information is requested but the claimant is unable to
reach the call center
Removes a one-week waiting period at the beginning of
the benefits period and extends the benefit period to
cover the week or weeks prior to receiving a first
paycheck upon reemployment
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID moved to the eighth slide and final
slide and explained the unemployment insurance trust fund,
which read [original punctuation provided]:
The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund pays out
benefits when an insured worker successfully applies
for unemployment
The parameters for use of the UITF are spelled out in
Federal Law (Section 3304(a)(4) of the Federal
Unemployment Tax Act), and require that states use
UITF funds only for paying UI benefits
In FY2024 the UITF brought in $165.9 million in
revenue and only paid out $43.5 million in benefits
In September 2024, the UITF balance was $724.4
Million, or $186.2 Million more than the statutory
target reserve ratio of 3.3% of taxable wages
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID concluded by stating that HB 192
was a common-sense piece of legislation that would protect
Alaska residents and "safeguard the economic wellbeing of
Alaska's workers, families, ... community, and ...
economy."
5:17:42 PM
}MEREDITH TRAINOR, Staff* Representative Ted Eischeid* Alaska
State Legislature* Juneau, Alaska* Gave sectional analysis on
behalf of Representative Eischeid, prime sponsor of HB 192.{
gave sectional analysis [included in the committee file] on
behalf of Representative Eischeid, prime sponsor of HB 192,
which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Section 1. Amends AS 23.20.340(d) to require timely
payment of weekly benefits during weeks
that include a holiday, and implements a penalty
payment requirement for late payments to
eligible insured workers;
Section 2. Amends AS 23.20.340(f) to require a 24-hour
payment deadline for payments
determined to be due to successful claim appellants
where said payments had been withheld
while the individual's claim underwent the appeal
process;
Section 3. Adds a new subsection to AS 23.20.340 that
requires the department to develop a
contingency plan for occasions when the call center
volume is exceeded, and requires timely
payment of weekly benefits for claimants who are
unable to reach the claim center as requested
in response to their weekly claim filing;
Section 4. Amends AS 23.20.350(d) to inflation-proof
the weekly benefit amount table
established in statute;
Section 5. Amends AS 23.30.350(f) to inflation-proof
the established dependent benefit
allowance established in statute;
Section 6. Adds a new subsection to AS 23.20.350 to
include an annual weekly benefit amount
adjustment based on the urban Alaska Consumer Price
Index for the prior three years;
Section 7. Amends AS 23.20.360 to begin the reduction
of benefits following a period of
unemployment as of the week the insured worker
receives first payment of wages; requires the
insured worker to provide accurate documentation of
the date of return to employment, and
provides a mechanism for recovery of any overpayment
to the Unemployment Trust Fund;
Section 8. Amends AS 23.20.375(a) to eliminate the
waiting week period between an insured
worker's initial claim for benefits and receipt of
initial claim payment;
Section 9. Amends AS 23.20.378(a) to allow an insured
worker to claim unemployment benefits
during a limited period of travel provided either: the
insured worker was permitted to work
remotely during their base period of employment, or
the insured worker has accepted an offer of
work that begins after the period of travel, and they
provide documentation that an earlier start
date was unavailable.
Section 10. Amends AS 23.20.378(c) to remove the
waiting week credit period from statute.
Section 11. Amends AS 23.20.378 by adding a new
subsection that allows the department to
collect information about a worker's remote work
history when the worker files a benefit claim;
Section 12. Amends AS 23.20.379(a) to remove the
waiting week credit from statute relating to
voluntary separation and discharge for misconduct;
Section 13. Amends AS 23.20.379(b) to remove the
waiting week credit from statute relating to
insured workers who have not met the requirements for
unemployment benefit payment;
Section 14. Amends AS 23.20.379(e) to remove the
waiting week credit from statute relating to
insured workers discharged for commission of felony or
theft;
Section 15. Amends AS 23.20.382(a) to remove the
waiting week credit from statute relating to
vocational training or retraining courses;
Section 16. Amends AS 23.20.382(b) to remove the
waiting week credit from statute relating to
the insured worker's participation in training and
retraining approved under U.S. code;
Section 17. Amends AS 23.20.382(d) to remove the
waiting week credit from statute relating to
the insured worker's participation in training and
retraining approved under the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998;
Section 18. Amends AS 23.20.383(a) to remove the
waiting week credit from statute relating to
stoppage of work during labor disputes;
Section 19. Amends AS 23.20.520(7) to remove the
waiting week credit from statute relating to
the definition of "claimant";
Section 20. Repeals AS 23.20.375(b) and AS
23.20.520(22).
Section 21. Sets an effective date of July 1, 2025.
5:22:13 PM
}PALOMA HARBOUR, Budget Manager* Department of Labor & Workforce
Development (DOLWD)* Juneau, Alaska* Answered questions during
the hearing on HB 192.{ answered questions during the hearing on
HB 192. She spoke to the indeterminate fiscal note associated
with the proposed legislation.
5:23:43 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked for the definition of the waiting
week creditas it was mentioned in Sections 10 and 19 of the
sectional analysis. He asked what would happen if the "waiting
week" were to be abandoned.
MS. HARBOUR explained that Alaska required a "waiting week,"
which was the first week that a claimant files with the state.
She emphasized the importance of the "waiting week" and spoke to
the way it served to identity verification. She said that an
individual would have to wait a certain amount of time before
they could be paid for a claim, which was currently a six-week
waiting period.
5:30:12 PM
CO-CHAIR HALL opened public testimony on HB 192.
5:30:28 PM
}LAURA STATS, representing self* Juneau, Alaska* Testified in
support of HB 192.{ testified in support of HB 192. She began
her testimony by sharing her experience in speaking with federal
employees who were impacted by the current presidential
administration's actions and emphasized the importance of
federal employees in the state. She said that the proposed
legislation would not cost the state any extra money and
encouraged the committee's support of HB 192.
5:32:42 PM
}MICHELLE BITTNER, representing self* Anchorage, Alaska*
Testified in support of HB 192.{ testified in support of HB 192.
She spoke to the challenging job market that currently existed
for all workers due to the uncertain economy, federal layoffs,
and stock market downturns. She shared an anecdote about her
son who worked in construction wherein he was let go due to the
lack of available work for him and spoke to the way that HB 192
would address the problems she had just spoke to.
5:36:04 PM
CO-CHAIR HALL, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 192.
5:37:18 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID noted that the core legislative intent
of HB 192 was to work to increase the current unemployment
insurance benefit payout which had been stagnant since 2009. He
said that the proposed legislation would offer a variety of
reforms and offered that HB 192 could be amended in future
hearings.
5:38:59 PM
MS. TRAINOR commented that the waiting week period removal was
not with the intention of a person being paid before approval.
She said that the waiting week period would begin after an
individual was approved for unemployment benefits.
5:42:04 PM
CO-CHAIR HALL announced that HB 192 would be held over.