SB 143

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, are 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 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 federal and state law, however, once an

extended benefit period ends because in a given week there is no Wisconsin "on"

indicator, no new extended benefit period may begin in this state for at least another

13 weeks thereafter.