NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is
intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the
legislature. The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume
responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used for
other purposes.
The most recent FIR
version (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) is available on the Legislative
Website. The Adobe PDF version includes
all attachments, whereas the HTML version does not. Previously issued FIRs and attachments may be
obtained from the LFC in
SPONSOR: |
Stewart |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
261\aHTRC\aHAFC\aHFl#1 |
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Amend Unemployment Compensation Law |
SB |
|
||||
|
ANALYST: |
Collard |
|||||
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
$2,392.4 |
|
See Narrative |
Non-Recurring |
Reed
Act |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to SB 142 and SB 558
REVENUE
Estimated Revenue |
Subsequent Years Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
|
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
($54,450.0) |
($54,450.0) |
Recurring |
UI
Trust Fund |
|
|
(Significant)
– See Narrative |
|
|
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
LFC
files
Responses
Received From
New
Mexico Labor Department
Attorney
General’s Office
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HFl
Amendment #1
The House Floor amends House Bill 261 by deleting
HTRC amendment number 10 and making technical adjustments to ensure effective
dates are correct and correctly cited.
Synopsis of HAFC
Amendment
The House Appropriations and Finance Committee
amends House Bill 261 first by deleting HTRC amendments 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and
12. The amendment also provides
technical changes to the bill by identifying the dates on which certain
provisions will become effective and by adding language required by federal
law.
The non-charging of benefits to workers who seek part-time
employment and non-charging of benefits for the lag quarter used for the
alternate base period create federal conformity issues, thus HAFC amends House Bill 261 further by lowering the tax rates in
schedule zero to compensate for not holding employers harmless.
The amended tax schedule zero raises the estimated
annual cost of number 8 in the original bill synopsis from $8 million to $11
million and the amended schedule zero reads:
0.03%
0.06%
0.09%
0.10%
0.30%
0.50%
0.80%
1.20%
1.50%
1.80%
2.40%
3.30%
4.20%
5.00%
5.40%
Finally, HAFC amends
House Bill 261 by inserting Section 5, pertaining to the creation of the
Unemployment Compensation Fund. The
fund allows the department to have access to the unemployment compensation
collections. This fund consists of:
· All
contributions collected and payments due pursuant to the unemployment
compensation law,
· Interest
earned upon money in the fund,
· Any
property or securities acquired through use of money in the fund,
· All
earnings on the securities,
· All
money received from the federal unemployment account in the unemployment trust
fund,
· All
money credited to the state’s account in the unemployment trust fund,
· All
money received or due from the federal government as reimbursements, and
· All
money received for the fund from any other source.
The bill also states all money in the fund shall
be mingled and undivided. It gives the
State Treasurer custody of the fund and the treasurer shall administer the fund
under the direction of the department and Secretary of Labor. The treasurer will maintain three separate
accounts: a clearing account, an
unemployment trust fund account, and a benefit account.
FISCAL
IMPLICATIONS
The Labor Department indicates there will be no
fiscal impact in FY03. The department
also indicates a need to add appropriation language to this bill to enable the
department to use the Reed Act funds for unemployment insurance administration.
Synopsis of HTRC
Amendment
The House Taxation and Revenue Committee
amendment provides technical changes to HB 261, provides for non-charging of
unemployment benefits to employers due to the application of the alternate base
period to a workers’ unemployment insurance claim, provides for non-charging of
benefits to employers of workers receiving benefits and working part-time and
adds language that will allow for the appropriation of federal Reed Act
distribution funds to New Mexico under Section 209 of the Temporary Extended
Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA) to be used in FY03.
OTHER
SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The New Mexico Labor Department (NMDOL)
indicates amended items 4(3) and (4) create conformity issues under the federal
unemployment tax act. The department
notes these items must be removed. If
not, the United States Labor Department (USDOL) will commence administrative
sanctions against
NMDOL recommends the following amendments:
·
Strike item 4(3) and (4) as they create
federal conformity issues,
·
Strike the semicolon at the end of item
6, Section 51-1-19(H)(2)(b) and insert “except for amounts distributed on March
13, 2002 under Section 209 of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation
Act of 2002 (TEUCA),” and
·
Strike “Economic Security and Recovery
Act of 2001 and Section 903 of the Social Security Act” in Section 12 of HB 261
(not the amendment) on line 24, and insert “Section 209 of the Temporary
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA).”
Synopsis
of Original Bill
House Bill 261
appropriates $2,392.4 from the Reed Act distribution fund to the unemployment
compensation administration fund of the Labor Department for expenditure in
fiscal years 2004 through 2007 to implement the following changes the
unemployment compensation law. This
information came directly from the Labor Department.
Eight states have amended their laws to adopt
the optional total unemployment rate (TUR) trigger. This proposal would add an additional 13
weeks of benefits to claimants that exhaust their regular benefit
entitlement. This program triggers “on”
during high unemployment periods, for which a calculation is provided, and is
allowed under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
It has also been authorized by Congress under the Extended Unemployment
Compensation Act. States may elect to
add the federal requirements to their state Unemployment Compensation (UC)
law. The Federal government pays fifty
percent of the benefit costs from reserves in the federal Extended Unemployment
Compensation Account and the other fifty percent would be paid from
Estimated Cost to the Trust Fund for a
13-week Period: $6
million
Currently, a claimant receives 50% of the
average weekly wage paid to the individual during that quarter when wages were
the highest, up to the statutory maximum, which changes each year (2003’s
maximum is $286). This law change would
increase the benefit formula to 52.5 percent of the average weekly wage paid in
the high quarter, an increase of 5 percent.
This would affect all claimants.
The last time the benefit formula was adjusted was 1967.
Estimated First Year’s
Cost to the Trust Fund if at 52.5%: $9
million
Currently, a worker is denied benefits if
he/she is attending school full-time, which may prevent that person from
accepting full-time work in his/her customary occupation. This amendment would remove that benefit
denial if the individual can continue to demonstrate availability for and could
accept full-time work, which is commonly referred to as the Able, Available and
Actively Seeking Work requirement in federal and state law.
Estimated Annual Cost
to the Trust Fund: $8
million
Currently new employers are required to
pay a tax of 2.7 percent of the total taxable wages for at least four years,
after which the employer’s experience history determines the tax rate. Many new employers are eligible for a lower
tax rate immediately if there has been a transfer of favorable experience
history from a previous owner.
Estimated Annual Cost
to the Trust Fund: $15
million
In
Most
alternative base periods use wages earned in more recent quarters as the basis
for determining monetary eligibility.
The types of ABP’s include the last four completed quarters, the last
three completed quarters plus weeks in filing quarter, or the last 52
weeks. In all states except one,
claimants can only use the ABP option if they are ineligible under the regular
base period.
Benefit
costs are estimated to rise from 4.2 percent to 5.8 percent if the ABP was
defined as using the last four completed quarters (in
Increase
in Benefit Costs: $5.1
million
State
laws that provide dependents’ allowances vary in definition. There are twelve states with dependents’
allowances that include children, usually under the age of 18. Stepchildren and adopted children are
included in most states. Some state
provisions include other dependents.
The
amount allowed per dependent is a fixed sum in most states, and ranges from one
dollar to ninety-six dollars per dependent.
In almost all states, only one parent may draw dependents’ allowances if
both are receiving benefits simultaneously.
If
the amount per dependent is fixed in
Estimated
Annual Cost to the Trust Fund: $3.1
million
Seventeen
states have laws that describe domestic violence as “good cause” for leaving
work, preserving eligibility for UI benefits.
Estimated
Annual Cost to the Trust Fund: $250,000
-- $1 million
This provision would
introduce a new tax rate and schedule.
Currently, the tax rates for Schedule 1 are as follows:
0.05%
0.10%
0.20%
0.40%
0.60%
0.80%
1.10%
1.40%
1.70%
2.00%
2.40%
3.30%
4.20%
5.00%
5.40%
If the new Schedule 0
was implemented the following tax rates would apply to employers:
0.03%
0.06%
0.10%
0.30%
0.50%
0.70%
1.00%
1.30%
1.60%
1.90%
2.40%
3.30%
4.20%
5.00%
5.40%
Estimated Annual Cost
to the Trust Fund: $8
million
Most states require claimants to be
actively seeking full time work to receive unemployment benefits, but about 16
states pay claimants that are actively seeking only part-time employment. Currently claimants in
Estimated Annual Cost
to the Trust Fund: $2
million
Currently
all new employers are required to pay a tax of 2.7 percent of the total taxable
wages for at least four years, after which the employer’s experience history
determines the tax rate. This law change
would allow employers that are doing business in another state to transfer
their experience history from that state if they want to do business in
Estimated Annual Cost
to the Trust Fund: $20,000
- $100,000
Significant
Issues
The
provision allowing employers from other states to transfer history to
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $2,392.4
contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the Reed Act distribution
fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 shall
revert to the Reed Act distribution fund.
The Labor Department estimates non-recurring expenses
of $1,087.0 in FY03 and FY04 for systems design, development and implementation
of the changes. The department also
anticipates $1,455.4 ($363.8 annually) in recurring costs for FY04 through
FY07. These costs have been addressed
within the appropriation in the bill.
These costs will sunset at the end of FY07. All appropriations are drawn from the federal
Reed Act distribution fund provided to
In
addition, annual costs of $54,450.0 are estimated against the Unemployment Compensation
Trust Fund which will result in increased benefits and reduced taxes.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The Labor Department
indicates the amendment to unemployment compensation would require significant
information technology modifications to the recently constructed unemployment insurance
claims and tax systems. The cost for
these changes has been addressed in the appropriation of the bill.
RELATIONSHIP
House Bill 261 relates
to Senate Bill 142 in that both bills address new employer rates in
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The Labor Department indicates the provision
allowing employers from other states to transfer history to
The Attorney General’s Office indicates there
may be a conflict in that Section 14 (A) has an effective date of