Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1260
       
       
        
       By Senator Trumbull
       
       
       
       
       
       2-00783B-24                                           20241260__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to verification of reemployment
    3         assistance benefit eligibility; providing a short
    4         title; amending s. 443.091, F.S.; providing
    5         requirements for reemployment assistance benefit
    6         conditions for non-Florida residents; removing
    7         requirements that certain skills assessments of
    8         claimants be voluntary; providing specified
    9         requirements for claimants; requiring the Department
   10         of Commerce to implement rules; amending s. 443.101,
   11         F.S.; making a technical change; revising
   12         circumstances under which the department disqualifies
   13         claimants from benefits; requiring the department to
   14         maintain a web page and an e-mail address for a
   15         specified purpose and to notify employers each year of
   16         the web page and e-mail address; creating s. 443.1112,
   17         F.S.; requiring the department to verify claimants’
   18         identities before paying benefits; requiring the
   19         department to weekly cross-check certain information;
   20         providing sources against which such information is
   21         cross-checked; prohibiting benefits from being paid
   22         for claims that have not been cross-checked; providing
   23         duties of the department; providing annual reporting
   24         requirements; amending s. 443.151, F.S.; conforming a
   25         cross-reference; amending s. 445.003, F.S.; requiring
   26         the department to procure an online workforce search
   27         and match tool for a specified purpose; providing
   28         requirements for such tool; providing an effective
   29         date.
   30          
   31  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   32  
   33         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Promoting Work,
   34  Deterring Fraud Act of 2024.”
   35         Section 2. Present subsections (2) through (5) of section
   36  443.091, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (3)
   37  through (6), respectively, a new subsection (2) is added to that
   38  section, and subsection (1) of that section is amended, to read:
   39         443.091 Benefit eligibility conditions.—
   40         (1) An unemployed individual is eligible to receive
   41  benefits for any week only if the Department of Commerce finds
   42  that:
   43         (a) She or he has made a claim for benefits for that week
   44  in accordance with the rules adopted by the department.
   45         (b) She or he has completed the department’s online work
   46  registration and subsequently reports to the one-stop career
   47  center as directed by the local workforce development board for
   48  reemployment services, or to a workforce center in the state of
   49  his or her residence if he or she is a non-Florida resident.
   50  This requirement does not apply to persons who are:
   51         1.Non-Florida residents;
   52         1.2. On a temporary layoff;
   53         2.3. Union members who customarily obtain employment
   54  through a union hiring hall;
   55         3.4. Claiming benefits under an approved short-time
   56  compensation plan as provided in s. 443.1116; or
   57         4.5. Unable to complete the online work registration due to
   58  illiteracy, physical or mental impairment, a legal prohibition
   59  from using a computer, or a language impediment. If a person is
   60  exempted from the online work registration under this
   61  subparagraph, then the filing of his or her claim constitutes
   62  registration for work.
   63         (c) To make continued claims for benefits, she or he is
   64  reporting to the department in accordance with this paragraph
   65  and department rules. Department rules may not conflict with s.
   66  443.111(1)(b), which requires that each claimant continue to
   67  report regardless of any pending appeal relating to her or his
   68  eligibility or disqualification for benefits.
   69         1. For each week of unemployment claimed, each report must,
   70  at a minimum, include the name and address of each prospective
   71  employer contacted, or the date the claimant reported to a one
   72  stop career center, pursuant to paragraph (d). For the purposes
   73  of this subparagraph, the term “address” means a website
   74  address, a physical address, or an e-mail address.
   75         2. The department shall offer an online assessment aimed at
   76  identifying an individual’s skills, abilities, and career
   77  aptitude. The skills assessment must be voluntary, and the
   78  department shall allow a claimant to choose whether to take the
   79  skills assessment. The online assessment shall be made available
   80  to any person seeking services from a local workforce
   81  development board or a one-stop career center.
   82         a. If the claimant chooses to take the online assessment,
   83  The outcome of the assessment shall be made available to the
   84  claimant, local workforce development board, and one-stop career
   85  center. The department, local workforce development board, or
   86  one-stop career center shall use the assessment to develop a
   87  plan for referring individuals to training and employment
   88  opportunities. Aggregate data on assessment outcomes may be made
   89  available to CareerSource Florida, Inc., for use in the
   90  development of policies related to education and training
   91  programs that will ensure that businesses in this state have
   92  access to a skilled and competent workforce.
   93         b. Individuals shall be informed of and offered services
   94  through the one-stop delivery system, including career
   95  counseling, the provision of skill match and job market
   96  information, and skills upgrade and other training
   97  opportunities, and shall be encouraged to participate in such
   98  services at no cost to the individuals. The department shall
   99  coordinate with CareerSource Florida, Inc., the local workforce
  100  development boards, and the one-stop career centers to identify,
  101  develop, and use best practices for improving the skills of
  102  individuals who choose to participate in skills upgrade and
  103  other training opportunities. The department may contract with
  104  an entity to create the online assessment in accordance with the
  105  competitive bidding requirements in s. 287.057. The online
  106  assessment must work seamlessly with the Reemployment Assistance
  107  Claims and Benefits Information System.
  108         (d) She or he is able to work and is available for work. In
  109  order to assess eligibility for a claimed week of unemployment,
  110  the department shall develop criteria to determine a claimant’s
  111  ability to work and availability for work. A claimant must be
  112  actively seeking work in order to be considered available for
  113  work. This means engaging in systematic and sustained efforts to
  114  find work, including contacting at least five prospective
  115  employers for each week of unemployment claimed. Each week, a
  116  claimant must complete at least one job application in person
  117  with an employer that has an expected job opening. A claimant
  118  must certify and attest biweekly that he or she will, to the
  119  best of his or her ability, appear for all scheduled interviews
  120  and is actively seeking work. The department may require the
  121  claimant to provide proof of such efforts to the one-stop career
  122  center as part of reemployment services. A claimant’s proof of
  123  work search efforts may not include the same prospective
  124  employer at the same location in 3 consecutive weeks, unless the
  125  employer has indicated since the time of the initial contact
  126  that the employer is hiring. The department shall conduct random
  127  reviews of work search information provided by claimants. As an
  128  alternative to contacting at least five prospective employers
  129  for any week of unemployment claimed, a claimant may, for that
  130  same week, report in person to a one-stop career center to meet
  131  with a representative of the center and access reemployment
  132  services of the center. The center shall keep a record of the
  133  services or information provided to the claimant and shall
  134  provide the records to the department upon request by the
  135  department. However:
  136         1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph or
  137  paragraphs (b) and (e), an otherwise eligible individual may not
  138  be denied benefits for any week because she or he is in training
  139  with the approval of the department, or by reason of s.
  140  443.101(2) relating to failure to apply for, or refusal to
  141  accept, suitable work. Training may be approved by the
  142  department in accordance with criteria prescribed by rule. A
  143  claimant’s eligibility during approved training is contingent
  144  upon satisfying eligibility conditions prescribed by rule.
  145         2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an
  146  otherwise eligible individual who is in training approved under
  147  s. 236(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, may not be
  148  determined ineligible or disqualified for benefits due to
  149  enrollment in such training or because of leaving work that is
  150  not suitable employment to enter such training. As used in this
  151  subparagraph, the term “suitable employment” means work of a
  152  substantially equal or higher skill level than the worker’s past
  153  adversely affected employment, as defined for purposes of the
  154  Trade Act of 1974, as amended, the wages for which are at least
  155  80 percent of the worker’s average weekly wage as determined for
  156  purposes of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.
  157         3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an
  158  otherwise eligible individual may not be denied benefits for any
  159  week because she or he is before any state or federal court
  160  pursuant to a lawfully issued summons to appear for jury duty.
  161         4. Union members who customarily obtain employment through
  162  a union hiring hall may satisfy the work search requirements of
  163  this paragraph by reporting daily to their union hall.
  164         5. The work search requirements of this paragraph do not
  165  apply to persons who are unemployed as a result of a temporary
  166  layoff or who are claiming benefits under an approved short-time
  167  compensation plan as provided in s. 443.1116.
  168         6. In small counties as defined in s. 120.52(19), a
  169  claimant engaging in systematic and sustained efforts to find
  170  work must contact at least three prospective employers for each
  171  week of unemployment claimed.
  172         7. The work search requirements of this paragraph do not
  173  apply to persons required to participate in reemployment
  174  services under paragraph (e).
  175         (e) She or he participates in reemployment services, such
  176  as job search assistance services, whenever the individual has
  177  been determined, by a profiling system established by the rules
  178  of the department, to be likely to exhaust regular benefits and
  179  to be in need of reemployment services.
  180         (f) She or he has been unemployed for a waiting period of 1
  181  week. A week may be counted as a waiting week under this
  182  subsection only if:
  183         1. It occurs within the benefit year that includes the week
  184  for which she or he claims payment of benefits;
  185         2. Benefits have not been paid for that week; and
  186         3. The individual was eligible for benefits for that week
  187  as provided in this section and s. 443.101, except for the
  188  requirements of this subsection and s. 443.101(5).
  189         (g) She or he has been paid wages for insured work equal to
  190  1.5 times her or his high quarter wages during her or his base
  191  period, except that an unemployed individual is not eligible to
  192  receive benefits if the base period wages are less than $3,400.
  193         (h) She or he submitted to the department a valid social
  194  security number assigned to her or him. The department may
  195  verify the social security number with the United States Social
  196  Security Administration and may deny benefits if the department
  197  is unable to verify the individual’s social security number, the
  198  social security number is invalid, or the social security number
  199  is not assigned to the individual.
  200         (2) The department shall adopt rules regarding work search
  201  requirements for the purpose of ensuring claimants’ good faith
  202  participation.
  203         Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 443.101, Florida
  204  Statutes, is amended to read:
  205         443.101 Disqualification for benefits.—An individual shall
  206  be disqualified for benefits:
  207         (2) If the Department of Commerce Economic Opportunity
  208  finds that the individual has failed without good cause to apply
  209  for available suitable work, failed to contact at least five
  210  prospective employers per week in accordance with s. 443.091
  211  unless otherwise exempt, failed to appear on three or more
  212  occasions for a scheduled job interview, failed to accept within
  213  2 business days suitable work when offered to him or her, or
  214  failed to return to the individual’s customary self-employment
  215  when directed by the department or when recalled to work by his
  216  or her former employer, the disqualification continues for the
  217  full period of unemployment next ensuing after he or she failed
  218  without good cause to apply for available suitable work, accept
  219  suitable work, or return to his or her customary self
  220  employment, and until the individual has earned income of at
  221  least 17 times his or her weekly benefit amount. The department
  222  shall by rule adopt criteria for determining the “suitability of
  223  work,” as used in this section. In developing these rules, the
  224  department shall consider the duration of a claimant’s
  225  unemployment in determining the suitability of work and the
  226  suitability of proposed rates of compensation for available
  227  work. Further, after an individual has received 25 weeks of
  228  benefits in a single year, suitable work is a job that pays the
  229  minimum wage and is 120 percent or more of the weekly benefit
  230  amount the individual is drawing.
  231         (a) In determining whether or not any work is suitable for
  232  an individual, the department shall consider the degree of risk
  233  to the individual’s health, safety, and morals; the individual’s
  234  physical fitness, prior training, experience, prior earnings,
  235  length of unemployment, and prospects for securing local work in
  236  his or her customary occupation; and the distance of the
  237  available work from his or her residence.
  238         (b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter,
  239  work is not deemed suitable and benefits may not be denied to
  240  any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new
  241  work under any of the following conditions:
  242         1. The position offered is vacant due directly to a strike,
  243  lockout, or other labor dispute.
  244         2. The wages, hours, or other conditions of the work
  245  offered are substantially less favorable to the individual than
  246  those prevailing for similar work in the locality.
  247         3. As a condition of being employed, the individual is
  248  required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain
  249  from joining any bona fide labor organization.
  250         (c) If the department finds that an individual was rejected
  251  for offered employment as the direct result of a positive,
  252  confirmed drug test required as a condition of employment, the
  253  individual is disqualified for refusing to accept an offer of
  254  suitable work.
  255         (d)The department shall maintain a web page and an e-mail
  256  address through which employers may report known or suspected
  257  violations of this section. Each year the department shall
  258  notify employers in the state of this web page and e-mail
  259  address for reporting violations.
  260         Section 4. Section 443.1112, Florida Statutes, is created
  261  to read:
  262         443.1112Verification of reemployment assistance benefit
  263  eligibility.—
  264         (1)The Department of Commerce shall verify the identity of
  265  each claimant who applies for reemployment assistance benefits
  266  before paying any benefits to that individual.
  267         (2)In determining the eligibility of a claim for
  268  reemployment assistance benefits, the department shall weekly
  269  cross-check the information contained in the claim with all of
  270  the following sources or similar sources of information:
  271         (a)The National Association of State Workforce Agencies
  272  Integrity Data Hub.
  273         (b)The United States Department of Health and Human
  274  Services National Directory of New Hires.
  275         (c)The State Directory of New Hires created in s.
  276  409.2576.
  277         (d)The Department of Corrections inmate database.
  278         (e)The Social Security Administration Prisoner Update
  279  Processing System.
  280         (f)The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National
  281  Vital Statistics System death records database.
  282         (g)The Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics
  283  death records database.
  284         (h)The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
  285  SAVE database.
  286         (3)Reemployment assistance benefits administered by the
  287  department may not be paid for any claim that has not been
  288  cross-checked against all the sources specified in subsection
  289  (2) or similar sources of information.
  290         (4)The department shall do all of the following:
  291         (a)Investigate any claim indicating suspicious activity
  292  associated with a mailing address, a bank account, an e-mail
  293  address, a telephone number, or an Internet protocol address
  294  that is associated with another existing claim for reemployment
  295  assistance benefits and verify that the claim is legitimate and
  296  not fraudulent before paying any benefits for the claim.
  297         (b)Scrutinize any claim filed from a foreign Internet
  298  protocol address before paying any benefits for the claim.
  299         (c)Work with the United States Department of Labor, other
  300  workforce agencies outside the state, the Office of the Attorney
  301  General, the Department of Law Enforcement, or other relevant
  302  law enforcement entities to share information related to
  303  fraudulent claims or attempted fraudulent claims to the extent
  304  feasible for further investigation and prosecution.
  305         (d)Each year, submit to the Legislature and make available
  306  on its website, a report identifying the number of fraudulent
  307  reemployment assistance claims identified for the prior year,
  308  the number of claims not paid due to successful detection of
  309  fraudulent intentions, the number of claims and the amount of
  310  reemployment assistance benefits paid against claims
  311  subsequently identified as fraudulent, the amount of fraudulent
  312  overpayments recovered, and the number of fraudulent claims
  313  referred for investigation and possible prosecution. The report
  314  must also list the sources of information that were used to
  315  cross-check claims during the reporting period.
  316         Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
  317  443.151, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  318         443.151 Procedure concerning claims.—
  319         (2) FILING OF CLAIM INVESTIGATIONS; NOTIFICATION OF
  320  CLAIMANTS AND EMPLOYERS.—
  321         (b) Process.—When the Reemployment Assistance Claims and
  322  Benefits Information System described in s. 443.1113 is fully
  323  operational, the process for filing claims must incorporate the
  324  process for registering for work with the consumer-first
  325  workforce system established under s. 445.011. Unless exempted
  326  under s. 443.091(1)(b)4. s. 443.091(1)(b)5., a claim for
  327  benefits may not be processed until the work registration
  328  requirement is satisfied. The department may adopt rules as
  329  necessary to administer the work registration requirement set
  330  forth in this paragraph.
  331         Section 6. Subsection (8) is added to section 445.003,
  332  Florida Statutes, to read:
  333         445.003 Implementation of the federal Workforce Innovation
  334  and Opportunity Act.—
  335         (8)ONLINE WORKFORCE SEARCH AND MATCH TOOL.—The department,
  336  in alignment with the implementation of 20 C.F.R. s. 652.3 to
  337  administer a public labor exchange services system, shall
  338  procure a modernized online workforce search and match tool that
  339  includes artificial intelligence generation for the purpose of
  340  matching participants to jobs and training opportunities. The
  341  tool must be interoperable through an application programming
  342  interface with the consumer-first workforce system implemented
  343  in s. 445.011, and the tool must include a knowledge, skills,
  344  and interests assessment for the purpose of guiding participants
  345  to jobs and training opportunities.
  346         Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.