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Representative Connor Casey introduces H.235 to extend summer unemployment eligibility to school support staff
Summary
Representative Connor Casey told the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee April 1 that H.235 would make education support professionals (bus drivers, custodians, food service workers and similar staff) eligible for unemployment benefits during the summer months; the bill’s estimated cost to the education fund was cited as about $5.6 m.
Representative Connor Casey told the House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development on April 1 that H.235 would make education support professionals (ESP) — including bus drivers, custodians, food service workers and administrative assistants — eligible for unemployment insurance during the summer, aligning their treatment with other seasonal workers.
“These workers don't have the option to work year round. It's a set schedule there, and their employment is tied to the school calendar,” Representative Casey said, arguing that lack of summer unemployment eligibility forces some support staff to leave public education and contributes to staffing shortages.
Casey said the bill would “remove a few lines” from state law that currently exclude school support staff from coverage. He estimated the cost to the education fund at about $5,600,000 and described the change as a modest fiscal impact in the context of education spending. He compared the proposal to recent changes in other states and said it would mirror eligibility already extended in industries with seasonal work, such as skiing and construction.
Committee members asked about potential alternatives and related policies. One member described past examples where teachers and support staff could elect pay distributed over 52 weeks to smooth income; the committee discussed whether unified bargaining or unit determination by the labor board might be an alternative or complementary approach to address pay and retention. Another member noted a statutory complication: many schools are reimbursable employers that pay actual costs rather than contributing to the state UI trust, and that historic federal requirements led to the current statute; changing it now raises fiscal and policy complications.
No formal motion or vote on H.235 is recorded in the transcript. Casey urged the committee to take up the bill and said it would help retain critical school employees; committee members acknowledged the policy and fiscal questions that would need to be resolved going forward.
