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PRINTER'S NO. 1258
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1070
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY KAUFFMAN, McGINNIS, QUIGLEY, TOPPER, PICKETT,
DUSH, MACKENZIE, GREINER, COX, MILLARD, WARD, MENTZER,
READSHAW, RADER, GROVE AND A. HARRIS, APRIL 4, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, APRIL 4, 2017
AN ACT
Amending the act of December 5, 1936 (2nd Sp.Sess., 1937
P.L.2897, No.1), entitled "An act establishing a system of
unemployment compensation to be administered by the
Department of Labor and Industry and its existing and newly
created agencies with personnel (with certain exceptions)
selected on a civil service basis; requiring employers to
keep records and make reports, and certain employers to pay
contributions based on payrolls to provide moneys for the
payment of compensation to certain unemployed persons;
providing procedure and administrative details for the
determination, payment and collection of such contributions
and the payment of such compensation; providing for
cooperation with the Federal Government and its agencies;
creating certain special funds in the custody of the State
Treasurer; and prescribing penalties," in contributions by
employers and employees, further providing for contributions
by employees and for Service and Infrastructure Improvement
Fund.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 301.4(e)(2) of the act of December 5,
1936 (2nd Sp.Sess., 1937 P.L.2897, No.1), known as the
Unemployment Compensation Law, is amended and the section is
amended by adding a subsection to read:
Section 301.4. Contributions by Employes.--* * *
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(e) Contributions paid under this section shall be allocated
by the department among the Unemployment Compensation Fund, the
Reemployment Fund and the Service and Infrastructure Improvement
Fund as follows:
* * *
(2) During each calendar year from 2013 through [2016] 2017,
an amount determined by the secretary with the approval of the
Governor shall be deposited into the Service and Infrastructure
Improvement Fund. For calendar year 2013, the amount determined
under this clause may not exceed forty million dollars
($40,000,000). For calendar year 2014, the amount determined
under this clause may not exceed thirty million dollars
($30,000,000). For calendar years 2015 and 2016, the amount
determined under this clause for each calendar year may not
exceed one hundred ninety million dollars ($190,000,000)
adjusted by the increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Consumer Price Index for the period from May 2013 through
January of the calendar year less the amount of Federal
administrative funding for the preceding Federal fiscal year.
For calendar year 2017, the amount determined under this clause
may not exceed fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000).
* * *
(f) During calendar year 2017, the following shall apply to
funding transferred to the Service and Infrastructure
Improvement Fund and related matters regarding the fund:
(1) The department shall temporarily improve the operations
of the unemployment compensation system pending the General
Assembly's review of the information required by section
301.9(h), (i) and (j). Funding under this clause shall be
allocated as follows:
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(i) Ten million eight hundred thousand dollars ($10,800,000)
shall be allocated for personnel costs related to claims
processing and service to claimants.
(ii) Two million three hundred thousand dollars ($2,300,000)
shall be allocated for personnel costs related to tax services.
(iii) One million four hundred thousand dollars ($1,400,000)
shall be allocated for personnel costs related to appeals under
Article V.
(iv) Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) may be
allocated for the purposes authorized under subclauses (i), (ii)
and (iii) or for personnel costs related to program integrity
and the detection and prevention of overpayments to claimants.
(2) Funding shall be expended in a manner that will result
in the operations of the unemployment compensation system
remaining at consistent levels for at least nine (9) calendar
months following the effective date of this clause.
(3) The department shall maintain a separate accounting for
the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund. The secretary
shall provide a report to the chair of the Labor and Industry
Committee of the Senate and the chair of the Labor and Industry
Committee of the House of Representatives before the fifteenth
day of each month during the period specified in clause (2). The
report shall include all of the following:
(i) An accounting of the Service and Infrastructure
Improvement Fund for the prior calendar month.
(ii) An update on operations of the unemployment
compensation system.
(iii) An accounting of total funds spent on the
administration of the unemployment compensation system for the
prior calendar month.
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(iv) An update on the progress of the procurement of
technological upgrades to the delivery system for unemployment
compensation benefits.
Section 2. Section 301.9(e) and (g) of the act are amended
and the section is amended by adding subsections to read:
Section 301.9. Service and Infrastructure Improvement
Fund.--* * *
(e) Any moneys in the Service and Infrastructure Improvement
Fund that are not expended or obligated as of December 31,
[2018] 2019, shall be transferred to the Unemployment
Compensation Fund under section 601.
* * *
(g) No later than June 30 of each calendar year from 2014
through [2019] 2020, the department shall provide a report to
the Governor and the General Assembly, through the Secretary-
Parliamentarian of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the House
of Representatives, regarding the Service and Infrastructure
Improvement Fund, which report shall include an accounting for
the contributions deposited into the fund, the expenditures and
transfers from the fund during the prior year and a description
of the purposes for which expenditures from the fund were made
in the prior year.
(h) The Auditor General shall conduct an audit of the
Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund and provide a report
to the chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the Senate
and the chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the House
of Representatives no later than June 1, 2017. The department
shall cooperate fully with the Auditor General and provide
timely responses to requests for information or comment.
(i) Before June 1, 2017, the department shall submit a
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report to the chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the
Senate and the chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the
House of Representatives. The report shall describe the
department's plan to eliminate its reliance on transfers to the
Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund for recurring
operational costs before January 1, 2020. The report shall be
accompanied by a funding request for operational costs for
calendar years 2018 and 2019.
(j) It is the intention of the General Assembly to
separately review a funding request for the purpose of making
technological upgrades to the delivery system for unemployment
compensation benefits. Before June 1, 2017, the department shall
submit a funding request for technological upgrades to the
delivery system for unemployment compensation benefits to the
chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the Senate and the
chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the House of
Representatives. The request shall include all of the following:
(1) A detailed description of the project.
(2) An explanation of the improvements to the benefit
delivery system that will result from the project.
(3) The total estimated cost of implementing the project.
(4) The amount of time in years that will be necessary to
implement the project and the cost of implementing the project
for each year.
(5) A detailed estimate of the cost savings that will result
from implementing the project.
(6) Information on any proposal received or contract
executed for technological upgrades to the delivery system for
unemployment compensation benefits, if the information is
available to the public under the act of February 14, 2008
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(P.L.6, No.3), known as the "Right-to-Know Law."
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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