HB 1522-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2596
12/10
HOUSE BILL 1522-FN
AN ACT relative to weekly benefit amounts for unemployment compensation.
SPONSORS: Rep. MacKenzie, Hills. 40
COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services
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ANALYSIS
This bill updates the weekly benefit amount for total unemployment and maximum total amount of benefits payable during any benefit year.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2596
12/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to weekly benefit amounts for unemployment compensation.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Unemployment Compensation; Weekly Benefit Amount; Maximum Total Amount of Benefits. RSA 282-A:25 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
282-A:25 Weekly Benefit Amount for Total Unemployment and Maximum Total Amount of Benefits Payable During any Benefit Year. The maximum weekly benefit amount and maximum benefits payable to an eligible individual, the first day of whose individual benefit year is on or after the effective date of this paragraph, shall be determined by the individual's annual earnings, of which in each of 2 calendar quarters the individual must have earned not less than $1,400, as follows:
Annual Earnings of Maximum Weekly
Not Less Than Benefit Amount Maximum Benefits
$2,800 $38 $988
3100 41 1066
3400 45 1170
3900 53 1378
4200 56 1456
4500 61 1586
4800 65 1690
5100 69 1794
5600 75 1950
6100 81 2106
6600 88 2288
7000 94 2444
7400 98 2548
7800 103 2678
8200 108 2808
8600 113 2938
9000 119 3094
9500 123 3198
10000 129 3354
10500 135 3510
11000 142 3692
11500 148 3848
12500 161 4186
13000 168 4368
13500 174 4522
14000 227 5902
14500 187 4862
15500 196 5103
16500 209 5434
17500 215 5590
18500 221 5746
19500 227 5902
20500 255 6630
21500 267 6942
22500 278 7228
23500 293 7618
24500 298 7748
25500 311 8086
26500 323 8398
27500 336 8736
28500 341 8866
29500 354 9204
30500 365 9490
31500 377 9802
32500 388 10088
33500 402 10452
34500 414 10764
35500 425 11050
36500 437 11362
37500 450 11700
38500 463 12038
39500 476 12376
40500 489 12714
41500 502 13052
42500 516 13416
43500 528 13728
44500 541 14066
45500 555 14430
46500 568 14768
47500 581 15106
48500 593 15418
49500 606 15756
50500 619 16094
51500 632 16432
52500 640 16640
53500 648 16848
54500 657 17082
55500 712 18512
56500 720 18720
57500 728 18928
55500 737 19162
56500 745 19370
57500 753 19578
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
24-2596
12/6/23
HB 1522-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to weekly benefit amounts for unemployment compensation.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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Estimated State Impact - Increase / (Decrease) | ||||||
| FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | ||
Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | Unemployment Trust Fund
| |||||
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | ||
Funding Source(s) | Unemployment Trust Fund
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Appropriations | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | None
| |||||
• Does this bill provide sufficient funding to cover estimated expenditures? [X] N/A • Does this bill authorize new positions to implement this bill? [X] N/A | ||||||
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Estimated Political Subdivision Impact - Increase / (Decrease) | ||||||
| FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | ||
County Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
County Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | ||
Local Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Local Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | ||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill changes the weekly benefit amount for total unemployment and maximum total amount
of benefits payable during any benefit year. The Department of Employment Security indicates this bill would amend the table at RSA 282-A:25 in three ways:
1) Increases the maximum weekly benefit amount (WBA) and the maximum benefit amount corresponding to an individual’s annual earnings at all increments in the existing table. This would increase the State Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefit entitlement at all increments. The maximum benefit is equal to the WBA multiplied by 26.
2) Adds two new annual earnings increments to the existing table for annual earnings not less than $13,000 and annual earnings not less than $14,000 and includes the corresponding WBA and maximum benefit amounts.
3) Adds 19 new annual earnings increments to the existing table from $42,500 to $57,500. The corresponding WBA for these steps ranges from $516.00 to $753.00, and the corresponding maximum benefit amount ranges from $13,416 through $19,578.
The Department states individuals claiming benefits will see an increase in their UC benefit amounts. The Department offers the following information regarding the fiscal impact to employers:
Reimbursable Employers.
These employers reimburse the unemployment trust fund dollar for dollar for UC benefits paid to their former employees. By statute, the State, counties and municipal entities are reimbursable employers and, instead of paying quarterly taxes, pay the Trust Fund an amount equal to the UC benefits paid to claimants. The proposed increase in benefit payments in the table at RSA 282-A:25 will directly affect these reimbursable entities by each additional dollar of benefits paid. (Political subdivisions may, by election, choose to pay quarterly taxes rather than reimburse the fund for benefits paid.)
Taxable Employers
Taxable employers pay quarterly contributions to the Trust Fund based on an earned tax rate applied against a fixed taxable wage base per employee of $14,000 in annual wages. The earned tax rate is set by statutory tax tables. The employers tax rate in the table is based upon a risk assessment considering the total taxes paid by the employer, the total benefits paid by the Department to the employer’s former employees, and the employer's current total annual wages paid. Lower benefits paid to an employer’s former employees and more in taxes previously paid results in a lower earned tax rate. Higher benefit amounts paid to an employer’s former employees results in a higher earned tax rate. By increasing the amount of UC benefits paid, this bill could cause a corresponding increase in employer earned tax rates, and increase the amount of unemployment taxes paid by taxable employers.
Statutory Solvency Triggers.
Statutory solvency triggers determine when employer tax rates are decreased as the balance in the Trust Fund reaches certain milestones. Currently, new employers start out with an earned tax rate of 2.7%. The solvency triggers cause reductions of:
- 0.5% to the earned tax rates of all positive rated employers if the Trust Fund balance equals or exceeds $250 million for an entire calendar quarter,
- 1.0% if the Trust Fund balance equals or exceeds $350 million for an entire calendar quarter and,
- 1.5% if the Trust Fund balance equals or exceeds $400 million for every day of an entire calendar quarter.
These reductions are referred to as Fund Balance Reductions (FBRs). The current FBR in effect is 1.0% as the Trust Fund has equaled or exceeded $350 million. Currently, the impact on a new employer starting with an earned tax rate of 2.7% would be a reduction to 1.7%. It is this earned tax rate which determines the employer’s tax obligation when applied to the first $14,000 in annual wages paid per employee. The impact of this bill would be felt as benefit amounts were increased and disbursements from the Trust Fund increased. As disbursements from the Trust Fund increase, the balance of the Trust Fund falls, thus making it less likely to meet the balance thresholds triggering the FBRs which reduce employer tax rates. The tax rates would need to be higher in order to sustain a balance in the Trust Fund considered necessary to meet solvency standards.
Regarding the fiscal impacts to employer tax rates and trust fund solvency caused by an increase in weekly UC benefits as proposed, the Department continues to analyze this bill against historical claim trends in order to try to determine a range of impacts on future balances in the State’s Trust Fund. The Department will supplement this fiscal information as soon as this analysis is complete and submit the analysis to the Office of Legislative Budget Assistant.
It is assumed that any fiscal impact would occur after FY 2024.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Employment Security