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.