Senate Bill S9383

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9383

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to extending the duration of
unemployment insurance benefits

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Extending the duration of unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 30.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends subdivision 4 of section 590 of the labor
law to extend the amount of unemployment benefits to be 30 times the
claimant's weekly benefit rate.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Unemployment insurance is a cornerstone of our economic infrastructure -
              

supporting working people who have lost their jobs through no fault of
their own, and stabilizing the economy during economic downturns by
mitigating spending declines associated with earning losses.

Currently, workers in New York state receive a maximum of 26 weeks of
unemployment insurance benefits. While typical within the United States,
this maximum duration is among the lowest in the developed world: Germa-
ny offers 52 weeks, France provides 78 weeks and Spain lasts as long as
104 weeks. Low baseline levels of benefit duration have a negative
impact on the basic function of the unemployment insurance system. Even
during periods of steep economic downturn, the majority of unemployed
workers will receive their benefits through state level unemployment
insurance as opposed to emergency federal programs, as the latter are
slow to actualize. Further, studies show a casual relationship within
states between low baseline levels of benefit duration and low recipieh-
cy rates - and low recipiency rates can undermine a state's ability to
qualify for those federally administered ad hoc unemployment insurance
programs. At bottom, shorter benefit duration periods compromise unem-
ployment insurance's role as an economic stabilizer. By extending the
standard benefit to 30 weeks, New York state can expand on Governor
Hochul's 2025 decision to pay down the federal unemployment insurance
trust fund, provide critical support for workers in betw een jobs, and
build out the strongest system of unemployment insurance in the country.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.