Oct. 21, 2016
HARRISBURG – This week, the House overwhelmingly approved legislation, sponsored by Rep. Mauree Gingrich (R-Lebanon), chairman of the House Labor and Industry Committee, which would enable the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) to adequately fund its Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund (SIIF) through 2017, and allow necessary improvements to the Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefit delivery system.
The fund, which was established under Act 34 of 2013 to aid the department in the processing of unemployment compensation claims, is supported with employee tax contributions, which have been on the decline. Meanwhile, the department has been using the funding to upgrade its 40-year-old UC computer system and finance general operations, which was not the intent of the law.
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House Bill 2375, which I am sponsoring, is a compromise bill that provides a one-year extension of SIFF through 2017, and provides as much as $57.5 million in funding for that year only,” said Gingrich. “This will prevent staff reductions and UC call center closings while the department works to submit a plan for eliminating its reliance on SIFF funds for its general operations. The bill clarifies the allowable uses for SIIF funds, requires the auditor general to audit SIFF by June 30 of next year, and requires L&I to make a separate funding request for its benefit delivery modernization project beyond 2017.”
L&I had originally requested transfers into the SIIF fund totaling about $200 million over four years to fix its deficiencies. Instead, Gingrich’s compromise bill, which won House approval, affords the department a full year of funding, during which time it must establish a long-term plan.
With only a few days remaining in the legislative calendar, House Bill 2375 is now under consideration in the Senate. Without reauthorization of Act 34, the act will expire on Dec. 31.
Representative Mauree Gingrich
101st District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Donna Pinkham
717.260.6452
dpinkham@pahousegop.com
RepGingrich.com