Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3, Part 14; Title 50 and Title 67.

This bill revises and adds to the Tennessee Employment Security Law, as follows: (1) Present law establishes a table that specifies an individual's weekly benefit amount. This bill requires the administrator of the division of employment security to annually increase the weekly benefit amounts listed in the table to reflect inflation, as measured by the United States bureau of labor statistics consumer price index or, if that index ceases to exist, another index adopted by rule by the administrator. (2) Under present law, a person who is overpaid any amounts as benefits must repay those amounts, with certain limited exceptions. Present law provides for waiver of repayment of the overpaid amounts if the person proves to the satisfaction of the administrator that all of the following conditions exist: (A) The overpayment was not due to fraud, misrepresentation or willful nondisclosure on the part of the person; (B) The overpayment was received without fault on the part of the person; and (C) The recovery of the overpayment from the person would be against equity and good conscience. This bill removes the requirement that the person prove that the circumstances described above in (C) in order to qualify for the waiver of repayment of overpaid amounts. (3) The present law provisions governing claims and appeals requires the agency representative to promptly examine a claim and, on the basis of the facts found by the agency representative, either determine whether or not the claim is valid monetarily and, if valid, the week with respect to which benefits will commence, the weekly benefit amount payable and the maximum duration of the benefit. This bill changes the timeframe for action by the agency representative from "promptly" to "within 14 days of receipt by the department." (4) Under present law, the agency representative must review the claim deemed valid monetarily and render a determination on the nonmonetary issues presented, except that in any case in which the payment or denial of benefits will be determined by provisions regarding unemployment due to a labor dispute, the agency representative must promptly transmit the agency representative's full findings of fact with respect to the labor dispute provisions to the commissioner, who, on the basis of the evidence submitted and additional evidence that the commissioner may require, will affirm, modify or set aside the findings of fact and transmit to the agency representative a decision upon the issues involved under the labor dispute provisions, which are deemed to be the nonmonetary determination of the agency representative. This bill revises the above provisions to specify that the agency representative must "promptly" review the claim deemed valid monetarily and render a determination on the nonmonetary issues presented. (5) Present law requires the agency representative to promptly give written notice to the claimant and all other interested parties of the nonmonetary determination and the reasons for the determination. This bill revises the applicable timeframe for giving notice from "promptly" to within three business days of the determination being made by an agency representative or unemployment hearing officer. (6) Present law requires that benefits be paid promptly in accordance with the agency decision or any decision of the appeals tribunal, the commissioner’s designee or a reviewing court. This bill revises the applicable timeframe from "promptly" to "within three business days." (7) This bill requires the administrator to annually increase premiums paid by employers in relation to increases made to weekly benefit amounts pursuant to this bill in order to maintain the solvency of the unemployment compensation fund.