Senate committee adopts amendment and sends bill to floor to adjust unemployment benefits for lockouts and strikes

The Senate Committee on Labor and Business on March 6 adopted the dash‑4 amendment to Senate Bill 916 and voted to send the amended bill to the Senate floor with a "do pass" recommendation.

Senate Bill 916, as amended by the dash‑4, establishes a process by which individuals otherwise eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) would not be disqualified for UI benefits for any week they are unemployed because of a lockout. The amendment also modifies the treatment of strikes: it provides eligibility language and creates a two‑week waiting‑week rule in certain strike circumstances and includes definitions for "labor dispute," "lockout" and "strike." The measure adds a payback process when an employee who receives UI also later obtains back pay from an employer, and it clarifies how UI payments count toward school‑district…