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Appropriations committee reports S.117 favorably after briefing on unemployment insurance changes and short-term compensation
Summary
The committee advanced S.117, a committee bill that makes technical corrections to Department of Labor statutes, aligns an unemployment-insurance tax-rate calculation with federal guidance and would reinstate the short-term compensation program; the committee reported the bill favorably by voice/roll call.
Senators on the Appropriations Committee voted to report S.117 favorably after a committee briefing that described technical corrections to Department of Labor statutes, an adjustment to how unemployment-insurance (UI) employer tax rates are calculated and a proposal to reinstate the short-term compensation program.
A committee presenter introduced S.117 as a committee bill of technical and administrative corrections for the Department of Labor. The presenter said section 18 changes the metric used to determine the annual UI employer tax-rate schedule — moving from using the highest amount of benefits paid to a benefit-to-cost ratio calculation — to align Vermont’s calculation with U.S. Department of Labor guidance. The presenter said the revision should allow the Department of Labor to access federal data more readily because the calculation will match other states’ approaches.
The bill also contains language (section 20) to reinstate the short-term compensation (STC) program, a federal option that helps employers avoid layoffs by enabling employees with reduced hours to receive partial UI benefits. The presenter and committee staff said Vermont had previously put STC in a dormant state because legacy IT systems made administration manual and impractical; the department is redesigning the program into its modernized unemployment compensation system and is seeking the authority to reinstate the program as an employer option.
Committee staff and the presenter emphasized that the bill, as introduced, is technical in nature and that the Department of Labor recommended the change to align state statutory language with federal practice. Committee discussion noted the statutory change could affect how the department measures the health of the UI trust fund because the revised calculation accounts for both money going into and out of the fund, not only benefits paid out.
The committee also discussed a provision removing the subminimum wage for disabled workers; committee members said that removal had been requested during negotiations and that the Department of Labor had not historically used the subminimum wage in practice.
Committee members voted to move the bill favorably. During the recorded sequence in committee, several senators voiced “yes” on the motion; the transcript records affirmative votes from Senator North, Senator Watson, Senator Lyons, Senator Westman, Senator Brennan and Senator Birchlake. The motion was reported as carried and S.117 was sent out of the committee as recommended by the chair.
Speakers who addressed S.117 included the bill presenter (committee senator), staff member Sophie (Office of Legislative Counsel), and Secretary Bloomer (Department of Labor) who was cited in discussion as a source of background on the short-term compensation program and other department matters.
