6368 AAS 3/14/00

SB 6368 - S AMD - 310

    By Senator Brown

                                                   ADOPTED 3/14/00

    On page 1, line 14, after "payable" strike "until the lockout is terminated" and insert "in a maximum amount equal to sixty times the weekly benefit amount or until the lockout is terminated, whichever occurs first"

    On page 3, beginning on line 1, strike all of subsection (b) and insert the following:

    "(b) The termination of the lockout or until benefits in a maximum amount of sixty times the weekly benefit amount are paid, whichever occurs first, if, at the expiration of the fifty-two weeks, the individual's benefits continue to be payable under RCW 50.20.120(1)(a) due to a lockout."

    On page 3, after line 29, insert the following:

    "NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 50.29 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) Beginning with rate year 2000, if unemployment benefits are paid to claimants in any calendar quarter that exceed the maximum benefit amount under RCW 50.20.120(1)(a) due to a lockout by the employer, and the employer is assigned the contribution rate of rate class 20 under RCW 50.29.025, or is assigned the contribution rate under RCW 50.29.025(6)(a), for the rate year that includes that calendar quarter, the employer's contributions for that calendar quarter under RCW 50.24.010 shall equal the total of the following:

    (a) The amount of contributions determined under RCW 50.29.025;

    (b) An amount equal to the full amount of benefits paid in the calendar quarter to the locked out claimants less the amount paid under (a) of this subsection; and

    (c) The amount of the costs related to administering the benefits paid to the locked out claimants not otherwise paid or payable from federal funds.

    (2)  At the end of each calendar quarter, the commissioner shall notify employers subject to this section, and shall include in each employer's contribution notice for the calendar quarter a billing for the amount determined under this section.  Contributions shall become due and be paid as prescribed by the commissioner for contributions under RCW 50.24.010.  

    (3) RCW 50.29.062 shall not apply to employers subject to this section.  For purposes of RCW 50.24.010, the contribution rate of a successor employer to an employer subject to this section shall be the contribution rate of the rate class assigned to the predecessor employer at the time of the transfer for the remainder of that rate year.  Any experience relating to the assignment of that rate class attributable to the predecessor is transferred to the successor.  Beginning on the January 1 following the transfer, the successor's assigned contribution rate for purposes of RCW 50.24.010 shall be based on the transferred experience of the acquired business and the successor's experience after the transfer."

    Renumber the sections consecutively and correct internal references and the title accordingly.

    On page 4, beginning on line 7, after "Sec. 5." strike "This act applies beginning with weeks of unemployment" and insert "This act applies to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 2, 2000,"

SB 6368 - S AMD - 310

    By Senator Brown

                                                   ADOPTED 3/14/00

    On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "50.04.030;" insert "adding a new section to chapter 50.29 RCW;"

                            --- END ---

EFFECT: The amendment provides an additional 30 weeks of benefits for locked out workers, replacing the duration of the lockout in the original bill.

    The amendment changes the retroactive application of continuing benefits for locked out workers from weeks of unemployment beginning after January 13, 1999, to January 2, 2000, and addresses the funding of these benefits as follows:    (1) If the employer is in the highest rate class or is paying at the delinquent rate, the Employment Security Department must determine the full amount of these benefits and bill the employer quarterly for the amount of benefits paid that exceeds the contributions paid by the employer. 

    (2) The employer must also pay related administrative costs that are not funded by federal money. 

    (3) If one of these employers is transferred to another entity, the successor employer will continue to be assigned the rate class of the predecessor employer for the remainder of the rate year and, beginning with the following rate year, will be assigned a rate based on the combined experience of the predecessor and successor.