File No. 699

House of Representatives, May 2, 2007

The Committee on Appropriations reported through REP. MERRILL of the 54th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT PROVIDING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN MILITARY SPOUSES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 31-236 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2007):

(2) (A) If, in the opinion of the administrator, the individual has left suitable work voluntarily and without good cause attributable to the employer, until such individual has earned at least ten times such individual's benefit rate, provided whenever an individual voluntarily leaves part-time employment under conditions that would render the individual ineligible for benefits, such individual's ineligibility shall be limited as provided in subsection (b) of this section, if applicable, and provided further, no individual shall be ineligible for benefits if the individual leaves suitable work (i) for good cause attributable to the employer, including leaving as a result of changes in conditions created by the individual's employer, (ii) to care for a seriously ill spouse or child, or parent domiciled with the individual, provided such illness is documented by a licensed physician, (iii) due to the discontinuance of transportation, other than the individual's personally owned vehicle, used to get to and from work, provided no reasonable alternative transportation is available, [or] (iv) to protect the individual or a child domiciled with the individual from becoming or remaining a victim of domestic violence, as defined in section 17b-112a, provided such individual has made reasonable efforts to preserve the employment, but the employer's account shall not at any time be charged with respect to any voluntary leaving that falls under subparagraph (A)(iv) of this subdivision, or (v) to accompany a spouse who is on active duty with the armed forces of the United States and is required to relocate by the armed forces, but the employer's account shall not at any time be charged with respect to any voluntary leaving that falls under subparagraph (A)(v) of this subdivision; or (B) if, in the opinion of the administrator, the individual has been discharged or suspended for felonious conduct, conduct constituting larceny of property or service, the value of which exceeds twenty-five dollars, or larceny of currency, regardless of the value of such currency, wilful misconduct in the course of the individual's employment, or participation in an illegal strike, as determined by state or federal laws or regulations, until such individual has earned at least ten times the individual's benefit rate; provided an individual who (i) while on layoff from regular work, accepts other employment and leaves such other employment when recalled by the individual's former employer, (ii) leaves work that is outside the individual's regular apprenticeable trade to return to work in the individual's regular apprenticeable trade, (iii) has left work solely by reason of governmental regulation or statute, or (iv) leaves part-time work to accept full-time work, shall not be ineligible on account of such leaving and the employer's account shall not at any time be charged with respect to such separation, unless such employer has elected payments in lieu of contributions.

The following fiscal impact statement and bill analysis are prepared for the benefit of members of the General Assembly, solely for the purpose of information, summarization, and explanation, and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose:

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill provides unemployment compensation benefits to an individual who leaves suitable work to accompany a spouse who is on active duty with the armed forces of the United States and is required to relocate by the armed forces.

The bill could result in a significant cost to the Department of Labor's Unemployment Compensation Fund of approximately $2.9 to $3.9 million. The cost of $2.9 million assumes 75% of 810 potentially eligible individuals file claims and receive an average weekly benefit rate of $290 for an average of 16.6 weeks. The cost of $3.9 million assumes 100% of 810 potentially eligible individuals file claims and receive an average weekly benefit rate of $290 for an average of 16.6 weeks.

Funding in the amount of $350,000 is included in both FY 08 and FY 09 in sHB 7077, the Appropriations Act, as favorably reported by the Appropriations Committee, for unemployment benefits for certain military spouses.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.



OLR Bill Analysis

HB 6680

AN ACT PROVIDING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN MILITARY SPOUSES.

SUMMARY:

This bill makes eligible for unemployment compensation benefits an employee who voluntarily leaves his or her job to accompany a spouse who is on active duty with the United States armed forces and required to relocate because of such duty. It establishes that an employer's unemployment taxes will not be directly affected by an employee who files a claim under the bill's provisions.

By law, in most cases an employee who voluntarily leaves work through no fault of the employer is not eligible for unemployment compensation. Some exceptions to this include when an employee leaves a job to (1) care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent or (2) protect himself or herself or a child living with the employee from continued or threatened domestic violence.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2007

COMMITTEE ACTION

Labor and Public Employees Committee

Joint Favorable Change of Reference

Appropriations Committee

Joint Favorable