HARRISBURG – Joined by advocates, House Labor and Industry Committee Republican Chairman Seth Grove (R-York) and Reps. Barb Gleim (R-Cumberland) and Aaron Bernstine (R-Butler/Lawrence) today unveiled a package of bills to make Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Compensation (UC) Trust Fund solvent faster and cut taxes on workers and employers. Grove, Gleim and Bernstine are proposing common sense bills to bring the fund to solvency faster, which would allow for tax cuts of nearly $700 million for workers and employers and would allow for benefits to increase by $72 million for laid-off workers. One bill would prevent long claims and incentivize unemployed workers to return to work by tying the maximum benefit duration to the state’s unemployment rate. Another would adjust the benefits paid to seasonal workers to bring them in line with workers who work year-round and are laid off. Seasonal workers would still be eligible for unemployment benefits, but their UC benefit rates would reflect the full picture of their earnings and more tenuous attachment to the workforce. The 3rd piece of legislation would require claimants to report other types of benefits that typically indicate they are not able to work, such as workers’ compensation and public and private disability benefits. The final two bills in the package of five would tighten guidelines for existing uc requirements.
REP. SETH GROVE
REP BARB GLEIM
REP. AARON BERNSTINE