Committee adopts unemployment tax administration rules with minor exceptions recommended by Senate

The Idaho House Commerce & Human Resources Committee voted to adopt docket number 0901352401, the unemployment insurance tax administration rules, after Department of Labor staff agreed to retain specific subsections to address a Senate committee concern.

Janie Revere, director of the Idaho Department of Labor, presented the docket and reiterated the rule-review goals: removing outdated language that restates statute and simplifying language without changing program operations or fiscal impacts. Revere noted the Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee had concerns about subsection 11(g) addressing when employer reports replace department determinations.

Revere told the committee the department did not intend to change its practice: if a business files a late report the department updates records and does not require the employer to file an appeal before accepting the report. "Since we have no intention of changing our current practices, which do not require an appeal, we have no concerns with leaving subsection 7 a and b in our rules," she said.

Representative Holzklaw moved to adopt the docket; members approved by voice vote. The committee advanced the rules without recorded objections.

The adopted docket keeps language clarifying that the department will accept employer reports that supplant estimated determinations and will not require a separate appeal to update accounts, consistent with Idaho Code 72-1358 (as described by the presenter). Committee members identified no fiscal impacts to the general fund or dedicated funds from the adoption.