AB 197

Currently, the maximum number of weeks of unemployment insurance benefits

that an eligible claimant may qualify to receive is normally 26 weeks. However,

during certain periods of high unemployment in this state, as defined by law, a

claimant who has exhausted all of his or her rights to receive benefits in a given

benefit year (period during which benefits are payable to a claimant) may potentially

qualify to receive up to 13 weeks of "extended benefits," the cost of which, with certain

exceptions, is normally shared between the federal government and employers in

this state. Under recent federal legislation, the employer share is also paid by the

federal government for private employers, including nonprofit organization

employers but not including Indian tribal employers, during certain periods. For

extended benefits to be paid in this state, there must be a Wisconsin "on" indicator,

which is currently determined by calculating the rates of total or insured

unemployment for various periods under one of three methods.

This bill adds a fourth method of determining a Wisconsin "on" indicator, which

applies only for so long as the method is permitted under federal law and full federal

funding is provided (currently, for claims filed before January 4, 2012). Under this

method, 1) the rate of insured unemployment for the period consisting of the week

in which the determination is made and the 12 preceding weeks must equal or exceed

120 percent of the average of such rates for the corresponding 13-week periods

ending in each of the preceding 3 calendar years and must equal or exceed 5 percent;

or 2) the average rate of seasonally adjusted total unemployment for the period

consisting of the most recent 3 months for which national data is available must

equal or exceed 6.5 percent and must equal or exceed 110 percent of the average for

any of the corresponding 3-month periods ending in the 3 preceding calendar years.

Under the bill, if this state begins or extends an extended benefit period as a result

of this "on" indicator, extended benefits are payable retroactively to qualifying

claimants with respect to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after December

17, 2010.