AN ACT Relating to additional unemployment benefits; amending RCW 50.22.090, 50.29.020, and 43.131.385; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 50.22.090 and 1997 c 367 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) An additional benefit period is established for ((~~rural natural resources impact areas, defined in this section, and determined by the office of financial management and the employment security department~~)) aerospace workers, timber workers, and fin fishers, and for other dislocated workers defined in RCW 50.04.075. Benefits shall be paid as provided in subsection (3) of this section to exhaustees eligible under subsection (4) of this section.

(2) The additional benefit period for ((~~a county~~)) this program may end no sooner than fifty-two weeks after the additional benefit period begins.

(3) Additional benefits shall be paid as follows:

(a) ((No new claims for additional benefits shall be accepted for weeks beginning after July 1, 1999, but for claims established on or before July 1, 1999, weeks of unemployment occurring after July 1, 1999, shall be compensated as provided in this section.

~~(b)~~)) The total additional benefit amount shall be one hundred four times the individual's weekly benefit amount, reduced by the total amount of regular benefits and extended benefits paid, or deemed paid, with respect to the benefit year for aerospace workers, timber workers, and fin fishers, but the additional benefits for these three categories of workers shall be discontinued as of June 30, 2001. For other dislocated workers as defined in RCW 50.04.075, the total additional benefit amount shall be fifty-two times the individual's weekly benefit amount, reduced by the total amount of regular benefits and extended benefits paid, or deemed paid, with respect to the benefit year. Additional benefits shall not be payable for weeks more than two years beyond the end of the benefit year of the regular claim ((for an individual whose benefit year ends on or after July 27, 1991, and shall not be payable for weeks ending on or after two years after March 26, 1992, for individuals who become eligible as a result of chapter 47, Laws of 1992.

~~(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of (b) of this subsection, individuals will be entitled to up to five additional weeks of benefits following the completion or termination of training.~~

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of (b) of this subsection, individuals enrolled in prerequisite remedial education for a training program expected to last at least one year will be entitled to up to thirteen additional weeks of benefits which shall not count toward the total in (b) of this subsection.

~~(e)~~)) (b) The weekly benefit amount shall be calculated as specified in RCW 50.22.040.

((~~(f)~~)) (c) Benefits paid under this section shall be paid under the same terms and conditions as regular benefits. The additional benefits ((~~period~~)) shall be ((~~suspended with the start of an~~)) paid before any extended benefits ((~~period,~~)) or any totally federally funded benefit program((~~, with eligibility criteria and benefits comparable to the program established by this section, and shall resume the first week following the end of the federal program.~~

(g) The amendments in chapter 316, Laws of 1993 affecting subsection (3)(b) and (c) of this section shall apply in the case of all individuals determined to be monetarily eligible under this section without regard to the date eligibility was determined)).

(4) An additional benefit eligibility period is established for any exhaustee who:

(a)(i) ((At the time of last separation from employment resides in a county with an unemployment rate for 1996 at least twenty percent or more above the state average and at least fifteen percent above their own county unemployment rate in 1988 and the county meets one of the following two criteria:

(A) It is a county with a lumber and woods products employment quotient at least three times the state average and has experienced actual job losses in these industries since 1988 of one hundred jobs or more or fifty or more jobs in a county with a population of forty thousand or less; or

(B) It is a county with a commercial salmon fishing employment quotient at least three times the state average and has experienced actual job losses in this industry since 1988 of one hundred jobs or more or fifty or more jobs in a county with a population of forty thousand or less; and

~~(I) The exhaustee~~)) Has during his or her base year earned wages of at least ((~~one thousand~~)) six hundred eighty hours((~~; and~~

~~(II) The exhaustee is determined by the employment security department in consultation with its labor market and economic analysis division to be a displaced worker; or~~

~~(ii) During his or her base year, earned wages in at least one thousand hours~~)) in ((~~either~~)) the aerospace industry assigned the standard industrial classification code "372," the forest products industry, which shall be determined by the department but shall include the industries assigned the major group standard industrial classification codes "24" and "26" and the industries involved in the harvesting and management of logs, transportation of logs and wood products, processing of wood products, and the manufacturing and distribution of wood processing and logging equipment or the fishing industry assigned the standard industrial classification code "0912". The commissioner may adopt rules further interpreting the industries covered under this subsection. For the purposes of this subsection, "standard industrial classification code" means the code identified in RCW 50.29.025(6)(c); ((~~and~~

~~(b)(i) Has received notice of termination or layoff; and~~))

(ii) Is determined to be a dislocated worker as defined in RCW 50.04.075; or

(iii) Is unlikely, in the determination of the employment security department in consultation with its labor market and economic analysis division, to return to employment in his or her principal occupation or previous industry because of a diminishing demand within his or her labor market for his or her skills in the occupation or industry; and

((~~(c)~~)) (b)(i) Is notified by the department of the requirements of this section and develops an individual training program that is submitted to the commissioner for approval not later than sixty days after the individual is notified of the requirements of this section, and enters the approved training program not later than ninety days after the date of ((~~the individual's termination or layoff, or ninety days after July 1, 1991, whichever is later~~)) notification, unless the department determines that the training is not available during the ninety-day period, in which case the individual shall enter training as soon as it is available; or

(ii) Is enrolled in training approved under this section on a full-time basis and maintains satisfactory progress in the training. ((By April 1, 1998, the employment security department must redetermine a new list of eligible and ineligible counties based on a comparison of 1988 and 1997 employment rates. Any changed eligibility status will apply only to new claims for regular unemployment insurance effective after April 1, 1998.))

(5) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Training program" means:

(i) A remedial education program determined to be necessary after counseling at the educational institution in which the individual enrolls pursuant to his or her approved training program; or

(ii) A vocational training program at an educational institution that:

(A) Is training for a labor demand occupation; and

(B) Is likely to facilitate a substantial enhancement of the individual's marketable skills and earning power.

(b) "Educational institution" means an institution of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016 or an educational institution as defined in RCW 28C.04.410(3).

(c) "Training allowance or stipend" means discretionary use, cash-in-hand payments available to the individual to be used as the individual sees fit, but does not mean direct or indirect compensation for training costs, such as tuition or books and supplies.

(6) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

(7) The provisions of RCW 50.22.010(10) shall not apply to anyone who establishes eligibility for additional benefits under this section ((~~and whose benefit year ends after January 1, 1994. These individuals will have the option of remaining on the original claim or filing a new claim~~)).

(8) All base year employers will be considered interested parties as specified in RCW 50.20.180 which gives them the right to appeal the granting of additional benefits.

Sec. 2. RCW 50.29.020 and 1995 c 57 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) An experience rating account shall be established and maintained for each employer, except employers as described in RCW 50.44.010 and 50.44.030 who have properly elected to make payments in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers as described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required to make payments in lieu of contributions, based on existing records of the employment security department. Benefits paid to any eligible individuals shall be charged to the experience rating accounts of each of such individual's employers during the individual's base year in the same ratio that the wages paid by each employer to the individual during the base year bear to the wages paid by all employers to that individual during that base year, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(2) The legislature finds that certain benefit payments, in whole or in part, should not be charged to the experience rating accounts of employers except those employers described in RCW 50.44.010 and 50.44.030 who have properly elected to make payments in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required to make payments in lieu of contributions, as follows:

(a) Benefits paid to any individuals later determined to be ineligible shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

(b) Benefits paid to an individual filing under the provisions of chapter 50.06 RCW shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer only if:

(i) The individual files under RCW 50.06.020(1) after receiving crime victims' compensation for a disability resulting from a nonwork-related occurrence; or

(ii) The individual files under RCW 50.06.020(2).

(c) Benefits paid which represent the state's share of benefits payable under ((~~chapter 50.22~~)) RCW 50.22.010(6) shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

(d) In the case of individuals who requalify for benefits under RCW 50.20.050 or 50.20.060, benefits based on wage credits earned prior to the disqualifying separation shall not be charged to the experience rating account of the contribution paying employer from whom that separation took place.

(e) In the case of individuals identified under RCW 50.20.015, benefits paid with respect to a calendar quarter, which exceed the total amount of wages earned in the state of Washington in the higher of two corresponding calendar quarters included within the individual's determination period, as defined in RCW 50.20.015, shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

(3)(a) ((~~Beginning July 1, 1985,~~)) A contribution-paying base year employer, not otherwise eligible for relief of charges for benefits under this section, may receive such relief if the benefit charges result from payment to an individual who:

(i) Last left the employ of such employer voluntarily for reasons not attributable to the employer;

(ii) Was discharged for misconduct connected with his or her work not a result of inability to meet the minimum job requirements;

(iii) Is unemployed as a result of closure or severe curtailment of operation at the employer's plant, building, work site, or other facility. This closure must be for reasons directly attributable to a catastrophic occurrence such as fire, flood, or other natural disaster; or

(iv) Continues to be employed on a regularly scheduled permanent part-time basis by a base year employer and who at some time during the base year was concurrently employed and subsequently separated from at least one other base year employer. Benefit charge relief ceases when the employment relationship between the employer requesting relief and the claimant is terminated. This subsection does not apply to shared work employers under chapter 50.60 RCW.

(b) The employer requesting relief of charges under this subsection must request relief in writing within thirty days following mailing to the last known address of the notification of the valid initial determination of such claim, stating the date and reason for the separation or the circumstances of continued employment. The commissioner, upon investigation of the request, shall determine whether relief should be granted.

Sec. 3. RCW 43.131.385 and 1997 c 367 s 18 are each amended to read as follows:

The rural natural resources impact area programs shall be terminated on June 30, 2000, as provided in RCW 43.131.386, except for the program under RCW 50.22.090, which shall be terminated June 30, 2001.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state or the eligibility of employers in this state for federal unemployment tax credits, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict, and the finding or determination does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state or the granting of federal unemployment tax credits to employers in this state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.