Regular Session 2017-2018 Senate Bill 0154 P.N. 0128

PRINTER'S NO. 128

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

No.

154

Session of

2017

INTRODUCED BY TARTAGLIONE, FONTANA, COSTA, YUDICHAK, HAYWOOD,

BREWSTER, HUGHES AND STREET, JANUARY 20, 2017

REFERRED TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY, JANUARY 20, 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. Sections 301.4(e)(2) and 301.9 of the act of

December 5, 1936 (2nd Sp.Sess., 1937 P.L.2897, No.1), known as

the Unemployment Compensation Law, are amended to read:

Section 301.4. Contributions by Employes.--* * *

(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 fifty-seven million five hundred thousand dollars

($57,500,000) .

* * *

Section 301.9. Service and Infrastructure Improvement

Fund.--(a) There is established a restricted account in the

State Treasury to be known as the Service and Infrastructure

Improvement Fund.

(b) Moneys in the Service and Infrastructure Improvement

Fund shall consist of contributions deposited into the fund

pursuant to section 301.4(e)(2).

Fund are appropriated on a continuing basis, upon approval of

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the Governor, to the department to be prioritized for the

following purposes:

(1) To improve the quality, efficiency and timeliness of

services provided by the service center system to individuals

claiming compensation under this act, including claim filing,

claim administration, adjudication services and staffing and

training of system employes.

(2) Expenditures for information management technology,

communications technology and other infrastructure components,

including technological upgrades to the delivery system for

unemployment compensation benefits, that the secretary

determines are likely to result in significant and lasting

improvements to the unemployment compensation system.

(3) To pay the costs of collecting the contributions

deposited into the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund

pursuant to section 301.4(e)(2).

(4) To reimburse the Auditor General for the audit required

by subsection (h).

(d) Consistent with the merit staffing requirement of

section 303(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620, 42

U.S.C. § 503(a)(1)), no moneys in the Service and Infrastructure

Improvement Fund may be expended or obligated to a third party

to perform unemployment compensation services of the department,

except services relating to technology and infrastructure

components deemed necessary by the secretary under subsection

(c)(2).

(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.

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(f) Moneys in the Service and Infrastructure Improvement

Fund shall not lapse at any time nor be transferred to any other

fund except as provided in subsection (e).

(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 chairperson of the Labor and Industry Committee of the

Senate and the chairperson of the Labor and Industry Committee

of the House of Representatives no later than June 30, 2017. The

department shall cooperate fully with the Auditor General and

provide timely responses to requests for information or comment.

The department shall reimburse the Auditor General for the cost

of the audit from the Service and Infrastructure Improvement

Fund in an amount not to exceed three hundred thousand dollars

($300,000). The report required under this subsection shall

include:

(1) A description and accounting of expenditures made from

the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund for each

calendar year, including 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

(2) An evaluation of whether all funds were expended for the

purposes authorized by this section.

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(3) An evaluation of the improvements and efficiencies

achieved as the result of expenditures for information

management technology, communications technology and other

infrastructure components.

(4) An estimate of the impacts to the unemployment

compensation system that are likely to occur if additional

funding for the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund is

not authorized by the General Assembly for calendar years after

2017.

(5) Recommendations on how the department can increase the

efficiency of the unemployment compensation system.

(6) An estimate of the amount of State funding that will be

necessary to operate the unemployment compensation system, if

the system is being operated in a reasonably efficient manner.

(7) Any other relevant information or recommendations, as

determined by the Auditor General.

(i) Report to the chairperson of the Labor and Industry

Committee of the Senate and the chairperson 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. The report shall be accompanied

by a funding request for technological upgrades to the delivery

system for unemployment compensation benefits for calendar years

after 2017. The request shall include:

(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

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implement the project, and the cost of implementing the project

for each year.

(5) An 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

(P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law.

Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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