Senate Bill sb1220c1
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Florida Senate - 2002 CS for SB 1220
By the Committee on Commerce and Economic Opportunities; and
Senators Wasserman Schultz, Jones, Futch, Meek and Lawson
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to economic recovery; providing
3 legislative intent; providing criteria,
4 requirements, and limitations on certain
5 training; amending s. 443.036, F.S.; providing
6 a definition and an application of an
7 alternative base period; providing requirements
8 and limitations; requiring employers to respond
9 to requests for information and providing a
10 penalty for failure to respond; providing for
11 adjustments in determinations of monetary
12 eligibility; amending s. 443.111, F.S.;
13 providing, for a limited time period, an
14 increase in weekly benefit amounts and the
15 total amount of benefits; providing effective
16 dates.
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18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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20 Section 1. The Legislature finds that businesses and
21 individuals in this state are experiencing significant
22 economic hardship and that revenues critical to the delivery
23 of vital public services are jeopardized. Therefore, it is the
24 intent of the Legislature to establish policies designed to
25 stimulate economic activity in this state and promote the
26 economic security of the residents of this state. The need to
27 retain and create jobs in this state in the current economic
28 environment is great. A significant investment of state funds
29 in reemployment and retraining programs is essential to
30 economic recovery in this state. The state should invest in
31 economic-recovery training programs that deliver a high
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Florida Senate - 2002 CS for SB 1220
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1 expectation of continued employment after a reasonably short
2 period of training is completed. Economic-recovery training
3 funds should be expended on programs that enhance the skills
4 of residents of this state who are employed by businesses
5 based in this state.
6 Section 2. (1) As used in this section, the term
7 "economic-recovery training" means training provided by, or
8 under contract with, the Agency for Workforce Innovation,
9 Workforce Florida, Inc., or a regional workforce board, to
10 prepare for reemployment an individual defined as a dislocated
11 worker under the federal Workforce Investment Act in 29 U.S.C.
12 s. 2801. The term includes, but is not limited to, the program
13 cited as Operation Paycheck.
14 (2) Economic-recovery training shall be awarded to
15 providers of training services on a competitive-bid basis and
16 shall receive continued support on a performance-based
17 schedule not to exceed 12 months. Training agreements may not
18 be continued with providers of training services who
19 demonstrate a pattern of low training-completion rates or low
20 job-placement rates for participants who complete the
21 training.
22 (3) This section does not apply to a contract that is
23 entered into before the effective date of this section, but
24 does apply to a renewal of such contract.
25 Section 3. Subsection (7) of section 443.036, Florida
26 Statutes, is amended to read:
27 443.036 Definitions.--As used in this chapter, unless
28 the context clearly requires otherwise:
29 (7) BASE PERIOD.--
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Florida Senate - 2002 CS for SB 1220
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1 (a) "Base period" means the first four of the last
2 five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the
3 first day of an individual's benefit year.
4 (b) With respect to a benefit year commencing on or
5 after October 1, 2002, if an individual is not monetarily
6 eligible in his or her base period to qualify for benefits,
7 the division must designate his or her base period to be the
8 alternative base period. As used in this paragraph, the term
9 "alternative base period" means the last four completed
10 calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of an
11 individual's benefit year. Wages used in a base period to
12 establish a monetarily eligible benefit year may not be
13 applied to establish monetary eligibility in any succeeding
14 benefit year. If information regarding wages for the calendar
15 quarter or quarters immediately preceding the benefit year has
16 not been input into the division's mainframe database from the
17 regular quarterly reports of wage information or is otherwise
18 unavailable, the division shall request such information from
19 the employer. An employer must provide the requested wage
20 information within 10 days after receiving a request from the
21 division. An employer who fails to provide the requested wage
22 information within the required time is subject to the penalty
23 for delinquent reports in s. 443.141(1)(b).
24 (c) For monetary determinations based upon the
25 alternative base period under paragraph (b), if the division
26 is unable to access the wage information through its mainframe
27 database, the division may base the determination of
28 eligibility for benefits on an affidavit submitted by the
29 individual with respect to wages for those calendar quarters.
30 The individual must furnish payroll information, if available,
31 in support of the affidavit. A determination of benefits based
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Florida Senate - 2002 CS for SB 1220
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1 upon an alternative base period shall be adjusted when the
2 quarterly report of wage information from the employer is
3 received, if that information causes a change in the
4 determination.
5 Section 4. Subsection (3) and paragraph (a) of
6 subsection (5) of section 443.111, Florida Statutes, are
7 amended to read:
8 443.111 Payment of benefits.--
9 (3) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT.--An individual's "weekly
10 benefit amount" shall be an amount equal to one twenty-sixth
11 of the total wages for insured work paid during that quarter
12 of the base period in which such total wages paid were the
13 highest, but not less than $32 or more than $275. For claims
14 with benefit years beginning October 1, 2002, through June 30,
15 2004 January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2000, an additional
16 amount equal to $25 or 15 5 percent of the weekly benefit
17 amount, whichever is greater, shall be added for each
18 compensable week the first 8 compensable weeks of benefits
19 paid, not to exceed $316 $288. Such weekly benefit amount, if
20 not a multiple of $1, shall be rounded downward to the nearest
21 full dollar amount. The maximum weekly benefit amount in
22 effect at the time the claimant establishes an individual
23 weekly benefit amount shall be the maximum benefit amount
24 applicable throughout the claimant's benefit year.
25 (5) DURATION OF BENEFITS.--
26 (a)1. Any otherwise eligible individual shall be
27 entitled during any benefit year to a total amount of benefits
28 equal to 25 percent of the total wages in the base period, not
29 to exceed $7,150. For claims with benefit years beginning
30 October 1, 2002, through June 30, 2004 January 1, 2000,
31 through December 31, 2000, an additional amount equal to $650
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Florida Senate - 2002 CS for SB 1220
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1 or 15 5 percent of the weekly benefit amount multiplied by 26,
2 whichever is greater, 8 shall be added to the calculated total
3 amount of benefits, the sum of which may not exceed $8,216
4 $7,254. However, such total amount of benefits, if not a
5 multiple of $1, shall be rounded downward to the nearest full
6 dollar amount. Such benefits shall be payable at a weekly rate
7 no greater than the weekly benefit amount.
8 2. For the purposes of this subsection, wages shall be
9 counted as "wages for insured work" for benefit purposes with
10 respect to any benefit year only if such benefit year begins
11 subsequent to the date on which the employing unit by whom
12 such wages were paid has satisfied the conditions of this
13 chapter with respect to becoming an employer.
14 Section 5. Except as otherwise provided in this act,
15 this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 Senate Bill 1220
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4 The committee substitute:
5 1) Clarifies that provisions requiring competitive-bidding
and performance-based funding of contracts for
6 economic-recovery training services apply to existing programs
and do not create new programs.
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2) Delays the effective date of payments under the
8 alternative base period from September 1, 2001, to October 1,
2002.
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3) Clarifies that an employer must submit requested wage data
10 within 10 days after receiving a request and subjects the
employer to the penalty for delinquent reports if the employer
11 fails to timely submit the wage data.
12 4) Authorizes that monetary eligibility under the alternative
base period may be determined from an affidavit of the
13 unemployed individual if the wage data is not available, and
provides for adjustments of the determination after the wage
14 data is processed and becomes available.
15 5) Removes provisions from the bill that would have waived a
requirement that individuals be unemployed for a waiting
16 period of 1 week before receiving unemployment benefits and
that would have accelerated the initial payment of benefits.
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6) Extends the total amount of unemployment benefits that an
18 individual may receive by an amount corresponding to a
temporary increase in weekly benefits.
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