Bill Text: NJ S2598 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates Emergency Unemployment Benefits Program for construction workers laid off due to halted Transportation Trust Fund projects.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-09-29 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee [S2598 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S2598-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator NICHOLAS J. SACCO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Senator ROBERT M. GORDON
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Creates Emergency Unemployment Benefits Program for construction workers laid off due to halted Transportation Trust Fund projects.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning unemployment insurance benefits and supplementing chapter 21 of Title 43 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. For the purposes of the Emergency Unemployment Benefits Program and as used in this act:
"Designated exhaustee" means an individual who:
(1) was employed as a construction worker at a transportation project funded by the Transportation Trust Fund Authority but was laid off from that employment during the period from July 1, 2016 to July 31, 2016 because work on the project was halted pursuant to Executive Order 210 of 2016; and
(2) exhausted all of the regular benefits that were available to the individual pursuant to the "unemployment compensation law," R.S.43:21-1 et seq., including benefits payable to federal civilian employees and ex-service persons or payable under the Combined Wage Program, during any calendar week of the emergency unemployment benefit period. No individual who exhausted all of the available regular benefits prior to November 20, 2016 shall be eligible for emergency unemployment benefits.
"Eligibility period" means the period consisting of the weeks in the designated exhaustee's benefit year which begin in an emergency unemployment benefit period and, if that benefit year ends in the emergency unemployment benefit period, any weeks thereafter which begin in the period.
"Emergency unemployment benefits" means benefits financed entirely by the State and paid to designated exhaustees pursuant to this act.
"Emergency unemployment benefit period" means a period not within an extended benefit period, which:
(1) begins on November 20, 2016; and
(2) ends on April 29, 2017 or at the conclusion of the calendar week in which total expenditures of emergency unemployment benefits chargeable to the unemployment compensation fund Statewide first exceed $30 million, if the conclusion of that week occurs before April 30, 2017.
No emergency unemployment benefits shall be paid to any individual with respect to periods of unemployment after April 29, 2017.
2. During an emergency unemployment benefit period, a designated exhaustee who otherwise continues to meet the eligibility requirements for regular benefits pursuant to the provisions of the "unemployment compensation law," R.S.43:21-1 et seq., and who is not eligible for any other unemployment benefits, including benefits provided for by any federal law extending benefits beyond those provided for as regular benefits or extended benefits, may receive weekly emergency unemployment benefits for weeks subsequent to November 19, 2016 in an amount equal to the weekly benefit amount of the designated exhaustee's most recent regular unemployment benefit claim subject to the provisions of the "unemployment compensation law," R.S.43:21-1 et seq. The maximum emergency unemployment benefits an individual may receive pursuant to this act is 13 times the weekly benefit amount that was payable to the individual pursuant to the "unemployment compensation law," R.S.43:21-1 et seq., including benefits payable to federal civilian employees and ex-service persons or payable under the combined wage program, in the individual's applicable benefit year.
3. No employer's account shall be charged for emergency unemployment benefits paid to an unemployed individual pursuant to this act, except for the account of an out-of-State employer who is liable for charges under the Combined Wage Program. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to relieve employers electing to make payments in lieu of contributions pursuant to section 3 or 4 of P.L.1971, c.346 (C.43:21-7.2 or C.43:21-7.3) from reimbursing the unemployment benefits paid to an unemployed individual pursuant to this act.
Emergency unemployment benefits paid to federal civilian employees shall be charged to the appropriate federal account. Emergency unemployment benefits paid to ex-service persons shall be charged to the General Fund.
4. Emergency unemployment benefits may be paid pursuant to the provisions of this act only with respect to weeks not within an extended benefit period, and not within a period covered by any federal law allowing the filing of new claims extending benefits beyond those provided for as regular or extended benefits.
5. The division shall use appropriate administrative means to insure that emergency unemployment benefits are paid only to individuals who meet the requirements of this act. These administrative actions may include, but shall not be limited to, matching the claimant's social security number against available wage records to insure that no earnings were reported for that claimant by employers under R.S.43:21-14 for periods in which emergency unemployment benefits were paid.
6. This
act shall take effect immediately.
This bill establishes an Emergency Unemployment Benefits Program and provides up to 13 weeks of additional unemployment benefits to claimants who: (1) were employed as construction workers in transportation projects funded by the Transportation Trust Fund Authority but were laid off from that employment during the period from July 1 to July 31, 2016 because work on the project was halted pursuant to Executive Order 210 of 2016; and (2) exhausted their entitlement to regular unemployment benefits during the period from November 20, 2016 to April 29, 2017.
Total benefits expenditure is capped at $30 million.
