Unemployment Compensation Reforms Now Law, Reed Says
HARRISBURG – The comprehensive reform to the state’s unemployment compensation (UC) system was signed into law today by Gov. Tom Wolf, House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana County) announced.
Act 144, formerly
House Bill 319, strengthens the solvency of the UC Trust Fund, makes an estimated 44,000 seasonal workers eligible for unemployment benefits and also saves the system $1.5 billion.
“This new law is the product of working together with all involved,” Reed said. “We are ensuring we help unemployed people as they try to find work in a fiscally responsible way. We also strengthened Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system by attacking fraud and creating $1.5 billion in savings for the system.”
According to Reed, the bill adds four new solvency triggers to ensure the UC system is on pace to achieve solvency by 2024. The bill’s anti-fraud language targets beneficiaries who try to scam the system while serving jail time, and increases penalties for bad actors.
To help pay for the additional workers, the new law adopts several cost-saving changes, which include:
• An across-the-board 2 percent reduction (reset) in benefits – $44 million in annual savings.
• Slowed growth in future benefits – beginning in 2020 through 2023, the maximum benefit will grow.
• From 2024 and thereafter, the maximum benefit will grow by 4 percent. This change will save at least $400 million annually, and the savings is expected to grow each year thereafter.
Representative Dave Reed
62nd Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives