An Act Relative to Reform of the Unemployment Insurance System - House Bill 1799

Most employers in Massachusetts have probably long stopped holding their breath over the issue of Unemployment Insurance (UI) reform but that doesn’t mean that certain legislators and interested parties are not still fighting to bring our system more in line with the rest of the country. HB1799 proposes the following much needed reforms:

• Requiring the new employers contribution rate to be set at the so-called zero positive rate, more accurately reflecting the employers actual trust fund balance and avoiding “sticker shock” when receiving the actual bill after the first year of operation
• Increasing the number of weeks of work for eligibility to collect UI benefits from 15 weeks to 20, and requiring wages to be paid in at least two quarters, bringing Massachusetts into line with the majority of other states
• Reduce the maximum duration of benefit weeks from 30 to 26 when the state’s economy is performing well by adjusting the statutory trigger mechanism
• Eliminating the Medical Security Trust Fund and the accompanying surcharge of $16.80 per employee imposed on companies with more than 5 employees
• Returning the proceeds of the Medical Security Trust Fund on a pro-rata basis to the state’s employers
• Setting the contribution rate for 2008 at Schedule D, the same rate that has been in place since the 2004 reforms

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