HCS HB 1456 -- EMPLOYMENT SECURITY

SPONSOR:  Hunter (Roark)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Workforce
Development and Workplace Safety by a vote of 7 to 5.

This substitute changes the laws regarding unemployment
insurance.  The substitute:

(1)  Allows the owner and operator of a motor vehicle which is
leased or contracted with a driver to a for-hire common or
contract motor vehicle carrier to operate under a certificate
issued by the Department of Transportation;

(2)  Specifies that the state taxable wage base for calendar year
2009 and thereafter will not exceed $12,500;

(3)  Specifies that in any year subsequent to 2006, if the
September 30 balance in the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund
less any outstanding federal Title XII advances or debt
attributed to credit instruments or combination thereof exceeds
$500 million, the taxable wage base for the next calendar year
will not exceed $11,000;

(4)  Specifies that for initial unemployment compensation claims
filed in calendar year 2006, the maximum weekly benefit amount is
4% of the average quarterly wages paid to the worker during the
two highest quarters of the worker's base period;

(5)  Specifies that beginning in 2006, the maximum weekly benefit
amount will not exceed $250 if the Unemployment Compensation
Trust Fund balance is $400 million or less.  Beginning the year
after the fund balance exceeds $400 million, the maximum weekly
benefit amount will increase to $270.  In each subsequent year
that the balance in the fund exceeds $400 million, the maximum
weekly benefit amount will increase by $10, but not beyond $320;

(6)  Requires an unemployed worker who is eligible to receive
unemployment compensation benefits to provide the Division of
Employment Security certain information regarding the worker's
contacts with potential employers as a condition for continued
eligibility;

(7)  Requires, for the purpose of an unemployed worker's waiting
week, a worker to register with the GreatHires.org search agency
or its successor agency prior to receiving unemployment
compensation benefits.  A claimant is required to register every
four weeks as a condition for maintaining benefit eligibility.
Registration with GreatHires.org constitutes completion of the
claimant's requirement that he or she report in person to a
division office;

(8)  Specifies that a claimant's refusal to take, invalidate, or
impede the accurate results of a test for alcohol or controlled
substances will be considered misconduct, and the claimant will
be disqualified for the waiting week credit and benefits;

(9)  Specifies that a claimant's admission that the results of a
test for alcohol or controlled substances will be positive is
considered misconduct, and the claimant is disqualified for the
waiting week credit and benefits;

(10)  Considers the test for alcohol or controlled substances as
evidence to be included in the administrative record if the test
was conducted by a laboratory certified by an accrediting
organization or professional society and approved by the
division;

(11)  Expands the way by which an employer may notify employees
that a positive test for alcohol or controlled substances may
result in suspension or termination of employment;

(12)  Specifies that the results of any alcohol or controlled
substance test are admissible if the employer's policy clearly
states that an employee may be subject to random, preemployment,
reasonable suspicion, or post-accident testing;

(13)  Allows an employer to require a preemployment test for
alcohol or controlled substances as a condition of employment,
and the test results are admissible provided the claimant was
notified of the admissibility prior to taking the test;

(14)  Specifies that a positive result of a random,
preemployment, reasonable suspicion, or post-accident test for
alcohol or controlled substance use is considered misconduct;

(15)  Creates a rebuttable presumption that all specimen
collection, handling, and testing from a certified laboratory
were performed in accordance with procedures provided by the
accrediting entity's rules and regulations;

(16)  Requires that a confirmation test include a split specimen
test for purposes of determining employee misconduct;

(17)  Specifies that when applying the provisions of the laws
regarding employment security, it is the intent of the General
Assembly to reject and abrogate previous case law interpretations
of misconduct connected with work requiring a finding of evidence
of impaired work performance;

(18)  Requires a claimant who is disqualified from receiving
unemployment benefits on a second or subsequent occasion within
the base period or within a subsequent base period to earn wages
at least six times the claimant's weekly benefit amount for each
disqualification;

(19)  Specifies that absenteeism or tardiness constitutes a
rebuttable presumption of misconduct;

(20)  Requires the division to cross-check unemployment
compensation applicants and recipients with the federal Social
Security Administration's data at least weekly;

(21)  Assesses an employer with a maximum experience rate for two
consecutive years a .25% surcharge to be added to his or her
contribution rate unless the balance in the Unemployment
Compensation Trust Fund is at least $450 million.  If an employer
maintains a maximum experience rate for a third or subsequent
year, an additional .25% surcharge is annually assessed if the
fund balance remains less than $450 million; however, the
surcharge may not cumulatively exceed 1.5%;

(22)  Specifies that the employer's experience contribution rate
plus the surcharge is not to exceed 7.5%; and for an employer
participating in a shared-work program, the experience
contribution rate plus the surcharge is not to exceed 10.5%;

(23)  Repeals the employer temporary debt indebtedness assessment
which was to be collected for calendar years 2005, 2006, and
2007;

(24)  Assesses an employer an emergency repayment fee calculated
as a percentage of the employer's tax rate, in addition to all
other contributions due, if the Unemployment Compensation Trust
Fund is utilizing money advanced by the federal government or the
proceeds from credit instruments, financial agreements, or a
combination thereof.  The fee amount will not exceed 10% of the
employer's tax rate;

(25)  Allows the division to use the services of collection
agencies to collect any debts;

(26)  Increases the maximum maturity time period of a credit
instrument offered by the Board of Fund Financing from three
years to 10 years after issuance;

(27)  Expands the repayment of obligations to lenders from the
Special Employment Security Fund to include the Unemployment
Compensation Trust Fund;

(28)  Requires the division to recover overpayments of benefits
through billings, offsets against state and federal income tax
refunds, and intercepts of lottery winnings;

(29)  Specifies that shared-work benefits may not be denied in
any week containing a holiday for which the holiday earnings are
committed to be paid by the employer unless the shared-work
benefits are for the same hours in the same day as the holiday
earnings;

(30)  Codifies the current at-will employment doctrine
established by case law;

(31)  Allows any party to a case the right to enter a motion to
reconsider a determination by the appeals tribunal; and

(32)  Abolishes the Missouri State Unemployment Council.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Income on General Revenue Fund of
$270,000 in FY 2007, $460,000 in FY 2008, and $550,000 in FY
2009.  Estimated Income on Other State Funds of $20,877,732 in FY
2007, $31,860,588 in FY 2008, and $35,785,027 in FY 2009.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill provides a common sense
remedy for correcting the insolvency of the Unemployment Trust
Fund.  The bill clarifies certain provisions of the Employment
Security Law and aids the employer in providing his or her
employees with an alcohol and controlled substance free
workplace.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Roark; Associated
Industries of Missouri; Missouri Grocers Association; Missouri
General Contractors Association; Missouri Chamber of Commerce and
Industry; Missouri Restaurant Association; National Federation of
Independent Business; Missouri Retailers Association; and
Missouri Motor Carriers Association.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that the proposed
statutory Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund minimum balance
amount is insufficient, in the event of an economic downturn, to
satisfy the resulting monetary demands.  The council should not
be eliminated but needs additional time to assess the current law
in order to carry out its required advisement responsibility.

Testifying against the bill were Missouri AFL-CIO; Carpenters'
District Council of Kansas City; Carpenters' District Council of
Greater St. Louis; and United Steelworkers of America, District
11; Missouri Unemployment Council; and SITE Improvement
Association.

OTHERS:  Others testifying on the bill say an October 1 effective
date is necessary for the purpose of computing employer tax
rates.

Others testifying on the bill was Department of Labor and
Industrial Relations.

Roland Tackett, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
93rd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated November 29, 2006 at 9:43 am