Senate File 213
SENATE FILE
BY KREIMAN
Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to base=period and attachment=to=the=workforce
2 requirements for unemployment benefits.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
4 TLSB 2583SS 80
5 kk/pj/5
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 96.4, subsection 4, Code 2003, is
1 2 amended to read as follows:
1 3 4. a. The individual has been paid wages for insured work
1 4 during the individual's base period in an amount at least one
1 5 and one=quarter times the wages paid to the individual during
1 6 that quarter of the individual's base period in which the
1 7 individual's wages were highest; provided that the individual
1 8 has been paid wages for insured work totaling at least three
1 9 and five=tenths percent of the statewide average annual wage
1 10 for insured work, computed for the preceding calendar year if
1 11 the individual's benefit year begins on or after the first
1 12 full week in July and computed for the second preceding
1 13 calendar year if the individual's benefit year begins before
1 14 the first full week in July, in that calendar quarter in the
1 15 individual's base period in which the individual's wages were
1 16 highest, and the individual has been paid wages for insured
1 17 work totaling at least one=half of the amount of wages
1 18 required under this subsection in the calendar quarter of the
1 19 base period in which the individual's wages were highest, in a
1 20 calendar quarter in the individual's base period other than
1 21 the calendar quarter in which the individual's wages were
1 22 highest. The calendar quarter wage requirements shall be
1 23 rounded to the nearest multiple of ten dollars.
1 24 b. For any benefit years effective on or after July 1,
1 25 2003, for any individual who does not have sufficient wages in
1 26 the base period as defined in section 96.19 to qualify for
1 27 benefits pursuant to this section, the individual's base
1 28 period shall be the last four completed calendar quarters
1 29 immediately preceding the first day of the individual's
1 30 benefit year if such period qualifies the individual for
1 31 benefits under this section.
1 32 (1) The director shall establish any rules for obtaining
1 33 any additional wage information needed to calculate the base
1 34 period under this paragraph "b" if such information is not
1 35 available to the department in a timely manner from regular
2 1 quarterly reports of wage information.
2 2 (2) Any base period established for an individual under
2 3 this paragraph "b" shall be the base period for that
2 4 individual to determine benefits under section 96.3.
2 5 (3) For claims filed pursuant to an arrangement under
2 6 section 96.20, the base period is that base period applicable
2 7 under the unemployment compensation law of the paying state.
2 8 c. If the individual has drawn benefits in any benefit
2 9 year, the individual must during or subsequent to that year,
2 10 work in and be paid wages for insured work totaling at least
2 11 two hundred fifty dollars, as a condition to receive benefits
2 12 in the next benefit year.
2 13 EXPLANATION
2 14 This bill strikes the requirement that for an individual to
2 15 be eligible for unemployment, the individual be paid a total
2 16 of wages during the individual's base period at least equaling
2 17 one and one=quarter times the amount of wages paid in the
2 18 highest paid quarter of wages of the individual's base period.
2 19 An individual would still be required to work in more than one
2 20 calendar quarter and earn sufficient wages to meet a minimum
2 21 amount of wages in the high and low quarters of the base
2 22 period.
2 23 The bill also provides for an alternate method of
2 24 calculating the base period, to determine the monetary
2 25 attachment=to=the=workforce eligibility of individuals for
2 26 unemployment benefits, in cases where the current method of
2 27 calculation makes an individual ineligible for unemployment
2 28 benefits. Currently the base period consists of the first
2 29 four calendar quarters of the five calendar quarters
2 30 immediately preceding the calendar quarter in which the claim
2 31 for unemployment is filed. Effective July 1, 2003, the bill
2 32 would move the base period closer, by one quarter, to the
2 33 benefit claim filing date so that the base period would
2 34 consist of the first four calendar quarters immediately
2 35 preceding the calendar quarter in which the claim for
3 1 unemployment benefits is filed.
3 2 LSB 2583SS 80
3 3 kk/pj/5