Amends TCA Title 4; Title 50 and Title 56.

ON MAY 4, 2021, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1039, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #2 rewrites this bill and revises the present law provisions governing the benefits formula under the Tennessee Employment Security Law, as follows:<br /> <br /> (1) Present law establishes a benefit table that specifies the weekly benefit amount that corresponds to an individuals average total wages in the highest two quarters of the base period. This amendment increases the weekly benefit amount by $25.00 for all entries on the benefit table.<br /> <br /> (2) Present law establishes the maximum benefits that a claimant may receive. Under present law:<br /> <br /> (A) Beginning with those benefit years established on July 4, 1983, any otherwise eligible claimant is entitled during any benefit year to a total amount of benefits equal to whichever is the lesser of: 26 times the claimant's weekly benefit amount; or 1/4 of the claimant's wages for insured work paid during the claimant's base period;<br /> <br /> (B) A claimant is not entitled to benefits if the claimant's base period earnings are less than 40 times the claimant's weekly benefit amount; and<br /> <br /> (C) A claimant is not entitled to benefits if the claimant's base period earnings, outside the claimant's highest calendar quarter of earnings, are less than the lesser of six times the claimant's weekly benefit amount or $900.<br /> <br /> This amendment revises the benefit limitations described above in (2)(A) to specify that those provisions apply beginning with those benefit years established on July 4, 1983, and ending November 30, 2023. Under this amendment, beginning with those benefit years established on December 1, 2023, an otherwise eligible claimant will be entitled during a benefit year to a total amount of benefits:<br /> <br /> (i) Equal to:<br /> <br /> (a) 12 weeks, if the state average unemployment rate is at or below 5.5 percent; and<br /> <br /> (b) An additional week in addition to the 12 weeks described in item (a) above for each 0.5 percent increment in the state's average unemployment rate above 5.5 percent; and<br /> <br /> (ii) Up to a maximum of 20 weeks if the state's average unemployment rate exceeds nine percent.<br /> <br /> For purposes of item (i) above, the department must determine the state average unemployment rate biannually, and the rate must be equal to the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, as published by the United States department of labor. Notwithstanding (i) above, a claimant's maximum eligibility will not be reduced during a benefit year for a claim.<br /> <br /> The substantive provisions of this amendment take effect December 1, 2023.<br /> <br /> ON MAY 5, 2021, THE SENATE SUBSTITUTED HOUSE BILL 1039 FOR SENATE BILL 1402, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1039, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 incorporates the provisions of House Amendment #1, except this amendment increases the weekly benefit amount by $25.00 only for entries on the benefit table that are based on average wages paid in the highest two quarters of the base period in the amount of $780.01 through $4,420.00. For all entries on the benefit table that are based on higher average wages, this amendment increases the weekly benefit amount by $50.00.<br />