03/27/03 0942s

06/24/03 2257eba

2003 SESSION

03-1166

08/09

SENATE BILL 197-FN

COMMITTEE: Insurance

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill makes available additional unemployment benefits.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/27/03 0942s

06/24/03 2257eba

03-1166

08/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

239:1 Money Credited Under Section 903 of Social Security Act. RSA 282-A:140-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

282-A:140-a Money Credited Under Section 903 of the Social Security Act.

I. Money credited to the account of this state in the unemployment trust fund by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America pursuant to section 903 of the Social Security Act may not be requisitioned from this state's account or used except for the payment of benefits and for the payment of expenses incurred for the administration of this state's unemployment compensation law and public employment offices. Such money may be requisitioned pursuant to RSA 282-A:105 for the payment of benefits. Such money may also be requisitioned and used for the payment of expenses incurred for the administration of this state's unemployment compensation law and public employment offices but only pursuant to a specific appropriation by the legislature and only if the expenses are incurred and the money is requisitioned after the date of enactment of an appropriation law which specifies the purpose for which such money is appropriated and the amount appropriated therefor. Such appropriation is subject to the following conditions:

(a) The period within which such money may be obligated is limited to a period ending not more than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the appropriation law except that this restriction does not apply to the special Reed Act distribution under section 903(d) of the Social Security Act; and

(b) The amount which may be obligated is limited to an amount which does not exceed the amount by which, the aggregate of the amounts transferred to the account of this state pursuant to section 903 of the Social Security Act exceeds the aggregate of the amounts used by this state pursuant to this act and charged against the amounts transferred to the account of this state.

II. For purposes of subparagraph I(b), the amounts obligated under an appropriation for the above-described administrative purposes shall be charged against transferred amounts at the exact time the obligation is entered into.

III. The appropriation, obligation, and expenditure or other disposition of money appropriated under this section shall be accounted for in accordance with standards established by the United States Secretary of Labor.

IV. Money appropriated as provided herein for the payment of expenses of administration shall be requisitioned as needed for the payment of obligations incurred under such appropriation and, upon requisition, shall be deposited in the fund established in RSA 282-A:140 from which such payments shall be made. Money so deposited shall, until expended, remain a part of the unemployment fund and, if it will not be immediately expended, shall be returned promptly to the account of this state in the unemployment trust fund.

V. Notwithstanding paragraph I, moneys credited with respect to federal fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001, shall be used by the commissioner with the consent and acceptance of governor and council or budget legislation of allocated funds solely for the administration of the unemployment compensation program and are not subject to appropriation by the legislature. The Reed Act distribution under section 903(c) of the Social Security Act, transferred to the state in October 1998 with respect to the federal fiscal year 1998, shall be used solely for the administration of this state's unemployment compensation law. The special Reed Act distribution under section 903(d) of the Social Security Act transferred to the state on March 13, 2002 may be used for all purposes set forth in paragraph I.

239:2 Additional Unemployment Benefits.

I. Additional unemployment benefits are available to an applicant who after May 31, 2002 exhausted benefits under the Temporary Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002.

II. Additional unemployment benefits under this section are payable from the Reed Act, section 903(d) of the Social Security Act, funds that were deposited in the unemployment trust fund account on March 13, 2002 and shall not be used in computing the future tax rate of a taxpaying employer nor charged to a government or nonprofit employer subject to reimbursing of benefits under RSA 282-A. Payments under this section shall terminate upon exhaustion of such Reed Act funds and shall not be paid from any other source.

III. An applicant described in paragraph I is eligible to collect additional benefits for any week through the week ending December 28, 2003, if:

(a) The applicant meets the eligibility requirements of RSA 282-A:31;

(b) The applicant is not subject to a disqualification under RSA 282-A:32;

(c) The applicant is not entitled to any regular or extended unemployment benefits for that week and the applicant is not entitled to receive unemployment benefits under any other state or federal law or the law of Canada for that week; and

(d) The applicant does not become qualified for benefits under any new regular or any other type of unemployment benefits under any state or federal law or the law of Canada. If an applicant qualifies for new regular benefits at any time after exhausting regular unemployment benefits, the applicant must apply for and exhaust entitlement to those new, regular, or any other type of unemployment benefits under any state or federal law or the law of Canada.

IV. Income support from any federal reemployment account shall be considered wages for purposes of RSA 282-A:14.

V. The weekly unemployment additional unemployment benefit amount available to an applicant under this section is the same as the applicant's regular weekly benefit amount in his or her applicable benefit year as defined for purposes of the Temporary Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002.

VI. The maximum amount of additional unemployment benefits available is 13 times the applicant's weekly additional unemployment benefit amount.

239:3 Appropriations.

I. There is hereby appropriated out of funds made available to this state under section 903(c) of the Social Security Act transferred to the state in October of 1998 and under 903(d) of the Social Security Act, as amended, transferred to the state on March 13, 2002, the sum of $3,504,592.22, or so much thereof as may be necessary, not to exceed 10 percent of the total amount paid in benefits under the additional benefits program, to be used, under the direction of the New Hampshire department of employment security for the purpose of administering the additional benefits program, this state's unemployment compensation law, and public employment offices.

II. There is hereby appropriated out of funds made available to this state under section 903(c) of the Social Security Act transferred to the state in October of 1998 and under 903(d) of the Social Security Act, as amended, transferred to the state on March 13, 2002, the sum of $250,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be used, under the direction of the New Hampshire department of employment security, for the purpose of reprogramming costs for the additional unemployment benefits program of this state's unemployment compensation law and public employment offices.

III. Whereas the legislature finds that immediate implementation will provide relief to the eligible unemployed citizens of the state, and notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the commissioner of employment security may utilize all or any part of the $250,000 referred to in paragraph II, he or she deems necessary to supplement the funding of any existing contracts for software maintenance, modification, or development. The commissioner shall not be required to obtain approval of any other department, agency, the governor, the governor's council, or legislative committee and shall not be subject to any existing maximum contract or annual expenditure limitations or limitations concerning sole-source contracts.

239:4 Effective Date.

I. Section 2 of this act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

II. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.

(Approved: Enacted in accordance with Article 44, Part II, N.H. Constitution, without signature of Governor, July 8, 2003)

(Effective Date: I. Section 2 shall take effect September 6, 2003