H-1836.1  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1350

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1995 Regular Session

By House Committee on Commerce & Labor (originally sponsored by Representatives Lisk, Chandler and Veloria; by request of Joint Task Force on Unemployment Insurance)

Read first time 02/16/95.

Authorizing voluntary contributions for unemployment insurance.

    AN ACT Relating to authorizing voluntary contributions for unemployment insurance; and adding a new section to chapter 50.29 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 50.29 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) Beginning with contributions assessed for rate year 1996, a qualified employer's contribution rate determined under RCW 50.29.025 may be modified as follows:

    (a) Subject to the limitations of this subsection, an employer may make a voluntary contribution of an amount equal to part or all of the benefits charged to the employer's account during the two years most recently ended on June 30th that were used for the purpose of computing the employer's contribution rate.  On receiving timely payment of a voluntary contribution, plus a surcharge of ten percent of the amount of the voluntary contribution,  the commissioner shall cancel the benefits equal to the amount of the voluntary contribution, excluding the surcharge, and compute a new benefit ratio for the employer.  The employer shall then be assigned the contribution rate applicable to the rate class within which the recomputed benefit ratio is included.  The minimum amount of a voluntary contribution, excluding the surcharge, must be an amount that will result in a recomputed benefit ratio that is in a rate class at least two rate classes lower than the rate class that included the employer's original benefit ratio.

    (b) Payment of a voluntary contribution is considered timely if received by the department during the period beginning on the date of mailing to the employer the notice of contribution rate required under this title for the rate year for which the employer is seeking a modification of his or her contribution rate and ending on February 15th of that rate year.

    (c) A benefit ratio may not be recomputed nor a contribution rate be reduced under this section as a result of a voluntary contribution received after the payment period prescribed in (b) of this subsection.

    (2) This section does not apply to an employer with a payroll of more than twenty-five times the amount of wages subject to tax as determined under RCW 50.24.010 during the year most recently ended on June 30th that was used for the purpose of computing the employer's contribution rate.

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