Subject of Possible Rule Making: Clarifying that any pension payments that an unemployment claimant receives should be deducted from the claimant's weekly benefit amount and not deducted from the claimant's maximum benefits payable.

Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 50.12.010 and 50.12.040 provide general rule-making authority to the employment security department.

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: The United States Department of Labor (USDOL) informed the employment security department that, under current state rules, pension payments need to be deducted from a claimant's available balance. This reading prevents individuals with pension payments from exhausting regular unemployment claims before the end of their benefit year, which prevents these individuals from qualifying for other types of entitlements, such as training benefits or extended benefits, before the end of their benefit year. Changing the rules will clarify that individuals with pension payments do not have to wait several weeks or months for their benefit year to end before they can qualify for other types of entitlements.

Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: USDOL reviews the state's administration of the unemployment insurance program to ensure conformity to federal statutes and regulations. The state has broad flexibility in the implementation of the unemployment insurance laws so long as conformity is maintained. The proposed regulations will be shared with USDOL prior to adoption.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Scott E. Michael, P.O. Box 9046, phone 360-902-9587, fax 360-902-9662, TTY relay 711, email rules@esd.wa.gov, web site https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/rulemaking/benefits.