PRINTER'S NO. 541
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
250
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY WARD, BROWNE, EICHELBERGER, STEFANO, VOGEL,
BROOKS, KILLION, VULAKOVICH, SCAVELLO, YAW, RAFFERTY,
TOMLINSON AND McILHINNEY, MARCH 20, 2017
REFERRED TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY, MARCH 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
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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).
* * *
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).
(c) Moneys in the Service and Infrastructure Improvement
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).
(d) Consistent with the merit staffing requirement of
section 303(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620, 42
U.S.C. ยง 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.
(f) Moneys in the Service and Infrastructure Improvement
Fund shall not lapse at any time nor be transferred to any other
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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.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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