Author: Jacob Hupp
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California committee advances bill proposing unemployment benefits for striking workers (2024)
The California Senate Labor, Public Unemployment and Retirement Committee advanced Senate Bill 1116 on Apr. 24, which proposes allowing workers to claim unemployment insurance benefits after striking for two weeks. The bill now heads to the Senate Committee on Appropriations for further consideration. California lawmakers passed similar legislation in 2023, but Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)…
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Louisiana House committee advances unemployment insurance indexing bill (2024)
The Louisiana House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations advanced a bill on Apr. 18 that would index the length of unemployment insurance benefits to the state’s unemployment rate. House Bill 119 would reduce the maximum number of benefit weeks to 12 when the unemployment rate is at or below 5%. The bill also proposes…
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Connecticut committee advances bill proposing increased threshold for felony unemployment insurance fraud
Connecticut House Bill 2570, which proposes increasing the threshold for felony unemployment insurance fraud from $500 to $2000, advanced from the Joint Judiciary Committee on Apr. 5 by a vote of 24-13. The Joint Labor and Public Employees Committee approved the bill with a vote of 8-4 on Mar. 7. The bill is now pending…
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U.S. unemployment insurance claims rise to 221,000 April 2024
New applications for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits rose 9,000 for the week ending Mar. 30 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000. The previous week’s figure was revised up by 2,000 to 212,000. The four-week moving average as of Mar. 30 increased 2,750 from the previous week’s revised average to 214,250. The number of continuing unemployment insurance…
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West Virginia bill to maintain weekly unemployment insurance benefit amounts and change taxable wages becomes law without governor’s signature (2024)
West Virginia Senate Bill 841 became law without the governor’s signature on Mar. 27, changing the wage base on which employers pay state unemployment insurance taxes to the first $9,500 of employees’ wages. It also froze the maximum weekly benefit amount for workers at $662. The law will take effect Jan. 9, 2025. The enacted…
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West Virginia lawmakers pass bill to maintain weekly unemployment insurance benefit amounts and change taxable wage bases
The West Virginia House passed an amended version of Senate Bill 841 on Mar. 9, which changed the wage base on which employers pay state unemployment insurance taxes to the first $9,500 of employees’ wages. It also kept the maximum weekly benefit amount for workers at $662. The West Virginia Senate concurred with the changes…
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Minnesota House committee advances bill proposing unemployment benefits for striking workers
The Minnesota House Workforce Development Finance and Policy Committee amended and advanced House File 3446 on Mar. 13, which proposes allowing workers to claim unemployment insurance benefits at the beginning of a strike. The bill now heads to the House Ways and Means Committee for further consideration. Currently, New York and New Jersey allow certain…
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Idaho governor signs bill to reduce unemployment insurance tax rate
Gov. Brad Little (R) signed Idaho House Bill 428 into law on Mar. 6, 2024, reducing employer-paid unemployment insurance taxes by 20%. The bill retroactively took effect starting Jan. 1. The state estimates Idaho businesses will save about $44 million in 2024 taxes and $117 million over the next five years under the new law. …