An Act To Create the Competitiveness Training Fund and Improve Maine Employment Security Programs
PART A
Sec. A-1. 26 MRSA §1166 is enacted to read:
§ 1166. Competitiveness Training Fund
The money in the fund must be administered by the commissioner exclusively for the purposes of chapter 25, subchapter 5 and for the costs of administering the fund.
Beginning January 1, 2008, Competitiveness Training Fund contributions are payable in the same manner as described under section 1221, subsection 1 and in accordance with section 1221, subsection 4-A.
Sec. A-2. 26 MRSA §1221, sub-§4-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 740, §2, is further amended to read:
Effective January 1, 2008, the contribution rate must be reduced by the Competitiveness Training Fund predetermined yield as defined in section 1166, subsection 1, paragraph C, except that a contribution rate under this paragraph may not be reduced below 1%.
(1) The commissioner shall prepare a schedule listing all employers for whom a reserve ratio has been computed pursuant to this paragraph, in the order of their reserve ratios, beginning with the highest ratio. For each employer, the schedule must show:
(a) The amount of the employer's reserve ratio;
(b) The amount of the employer's annual taxable payroll; and
(c) A cumulative total consisting of the amount of the employer's annual taxable payroll plus the amount of the annual taxable payrolls of all other employers preceding the employer on the list.
(2) The commissioner shall segregate employers into contribution categories in accordance with the cumulative totals under subparagraph (1), division (c). The contribution category is determined by the cumulative payroll percentage limits in column B. Each contribution category is identified by the contribution category number in column A that is opposite the figures in column B, which represent the percentage limits of each contribution category. If an employer's taxable payroll falls in more than one contribution category, the employer must be assigned to the lower-numbered contribution category, except that an employer may not be assigned to a higher contribution category than is assigned any other employer with the same reserve ratio.
| A | B | C | D | E | |
| Contribution Category | % of Taxable Payrolls From To | Experience Factors | Phase-in Experience Factors 2002 and 2003 | Phase-in Experience Factors 2000 and 2001 | |
| 1 | 00.00 | 05.00 | .30 | .38750 | .4750 |
| 2 | 05.01 | 10.00 | .35 | .43125 | .5125 |
| 3 | 10.01 | 15.00 | .40 | .47500 | .5500 |
| 4 | 15.01 | 20.00 | .45 | .51875 | .5875 |
| 5 | 20.01 | 25.00 | .50 | .56250 | .6250 |
| 6 | 25.01 | 30.00 | .55 | .60625 | .6625 |
| 7 | 30.01 | 35.00 | .60 | .65000 | .7000 |
| 8 | 35.01 | 40.00 | .65 | .69375 | .7375 |
| 9 | 40.01 | 45.00 | .70 | .73750 | .7750 |
| 10 | 45.01 | 50.00 | .75 | .78125 | .8125 |
| 11 | 50.01 | 55.00 | .80 | .82500 | .8500 |
| 12 | 55.01 | 60.00 | .90 | .91250 | .9250 |
| 13 | 60.01 | 65.00 | 1.00 | 1.00000 | 1.0000 |
| 14 | 65.01 | 70.00 | 1.10 | 1.08750 | 1.0750 |
| 15 | 70.01 | 75.00 | 1.25 | 1.21875 | 1.1875 |
| 16 | 75.01 | 80.00 | 1.40 | 1.35000 | 1.3000 |
| 17 | 80.01 | 85.00 | 1.60 | 1.52500 | 1.4500 |
| 18 | 85.01 | 90.00 | 1.90 | 1.78750 | 1.6750 |
| 19 | 90.01 | 95.00 | 2.20 | 2.05000 | 1.9000 |
| 20 | 95.01 | 100.00 | 2.60 | 2.40000 | 2.2000 |
(3) The Until January 1, 2008, the commissioner shall compute a reserve multiple to determine the schedule and planned yield in effect for a rate year. The reserve multiple is determined by dividing the fund reserve ratio by the average benefit cost rate. The determination date is October 31st of each calendar year. The schedule and planned yield that apply for the 12-month period commencing every January 1st are shown on the line of the following table that corresponds with the applicable reserve multiple in column A, except that a planned yield of 1.1% must be in effect for the 12-month period commencing January 1, 2000. This subparagraph is repealed January 1, 2008.
| A | B | C | |
| Reserve | Schedule | Planned | |
| Multiple | Yield | ||
| Over 1.83 | A | 0.6% | |
| 1.75 - 1.83 | B | 0.7% | |
| 1.68 - 1.74 | C | 0.8% | |
| 1.58 - 1.67 | D | 0.9% | |
| 1.50 - 1.57 | E | 1.0% | |
| .50 - 1.49 | F | 1.1% | |
| .25 - .49 | G | 1.2% | |
| Under .25 | H | 1.3% |
(3-A) Beginning January 1, 2008, the commissioner shall compute a reserve multiple to determine the schedule and planned yield in effect for a rate year. The reserve multiple is determined by dividing the fund reserve ratio by the average benefit cost rate. The determination date is October 31st of each calendar year. The schedule and planned yield that apply for the 12-month period commencing on January 1, 2008 and every January 1st thereafter are shown on the line of the following table that corresponds with the applicable reserve multiple in column A.
| A | B | C | |
| Reserve | Schedule | Planned | |
| Multiple | Yield | ||
| Over 1.58 | A | 0.6% | |
| 1.50 - 1.57 | B | 0.7% | |
| 1.42 - 1.49 | C | 0.8% | |
| 1.33 - 1.41 | D | 0.9% | |
| 1.25 - 1.32 | E | 1.0% | |
| .50 - 1.24 | F | 1.1% | |
| .25 - .49 | G | 1.2% | |
| Under .25 | H | 1.3% |
(4) The commissioner shall compute the predetermined yield by multiplying the ratio of total wages to taxable wages for the preceding calendar year by the planned yield.
(5) The commissioner shall determine the contribution rates effective for a rate year by multiplying the predetermined yield by the experience factors for each contribution category. Contribution category 20 in the table in subparagraph (2) must be assigned a contribution rate of at least 5.4%. The employer's experience factor is the percentage shown in column C in the table in subparagraph (2) that corresponds with the employer's contribution category in column A, except that the experience factors in column E must be used to determine the contribution rates for rate years 2000 and 2001 and those in column D must be used for rate years 2002 and 2003.
(6) If, subsequent to the assignment of contribution rates for a rate year, the reserve ratio of an employer is recomputed and changed, the employer must be placed in the position on the schedule prepared pursuant to subparagraph (1) that the employer would have occupied had the corrected reserve ratio been shown on the schedule. The altered position on the schedule does not affect the position of any other employer.
(7) In computing the contribution rates, only the wages reported by employers liable for payment of contributions into the fund and net benefits paid that are charged to an employer's experience rating record or to the fund are considered in the computation of the average benefit cost rate and the ratio of total wages to taxable wages.
(8) Beginning January 1, 2008, all contribution rates must be reduced by the Competitiveness Training Fund predetermined yield as defined in section 1166, subsection 1, paragraph C, except that contribution category 20 under this paragraph may not be reduced below 5.4%.
(1) Promptly notify each employer of the employer's rate of contributions as determined for the 12-month period commencing January 1st of each year. The determination is conclusive and binding upon the employer unless within 30 days after notice of the determination is mailed to the employer's last known address or, in the absence of mailing, within 30 days after the delivery of the notice, the employer files an application for review and redetermination, setting forth the employer's reasons. If the commission grants the review, the employer must be promptly notified and must be granted an opportunity for a hearing. An employer does not have standing in any proceedings involving the employer's rate of contributions or contribution liability to contest the chargeability to the employer's experience rating record of any benefits paid in accordance with a determination, redetermination or decision pursuant to section 1194, except upon the ground that the services for which benefits were found to be chargeable did not constitute services performed in employment for the employer and only when the employer was not a party to the determination, redetermination or decision or to any other proceedings under this chapter in which the character of the services was determined. The employer must be promptly notified of the commission's denial of the employer's application or the commission's redetermination, both of which are subject to appeal pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter VII 7; and
(2) Provide each employer at least monthly with a notification of benefits paid and chargeable to the employer's experience rating record. In the absence of an application for redetermination filed in the manner and within the period prescribed by the commission, a notification is conclusive and binding upon the employer for all purposes. A redetermination made after notice and opportunity for hearing and the commission's findings of fact may be introduced in subsequent administrative or judicial proceedings involving the determination of the rate of contributions of an employer for the 12-month period commencing January 1st of any year and has the same finality as provided in this section with respect to the findings of fact made by the commission in proceedings to redetermine the contribution rates of an employer.
Sec. A-3. 26 MRSA c. 25, sub-c. 5 is enacted to read:
SUBCHAPTER 5
Competitiveness Training Program
§ 2033. Competitiveness Training Program
The commissioner may expend funds through the department's career centers from the fund for the costs of education, training and support in accordance with subsection 6, for career counseling and for the administration of the program. Career counseling must include developing a plan and assisting a participant in accessing the support necessary for the participant to participate in the plan. The commissioner shall establish a limit on or a formula that limits the proportion of program funds that are expended on career counseling and for administration.
(1) Identified by the Division of Labor Market Information Services as providing opportunity for employment in jobs with high compensation;
(2) Recommended by the Maine Jobs Council; and
(3) Approved by the Governor or the Governor's designee.
(1) Books, supplies, tools and equipment required by the participant's plan;
(2) Child care, transportation and other necessary support as determined by the department; and
(3) Assistance needed to obtain remedial or prerequisite education necessary for the participant to participate successfully in the program.
Money for mandatory fees or tuition may not be provided unless the participant is not eligible for necessary funds from other public grants or scholarships reasonably available to the participant for this purpose.
(1) A complete list of all education, training and support available from the program, including nontraditional employment opportunities, so that the participant may identify a suitable employment goal and the services needed to participate in the program;
(2) The opportunity to learn about and examine relevant labor market information related to identified industries and the participant's employment preference;
(3) If the participant's employment goal is an occupation for which an apprenticeship may be available, information about the department's apprenticeship program under chapter 33; and
(4) Information about and assistance in applying for other services that will assist the participant in succeeding in the plan and prevent any unnecessary expenditure of resources by the program, including federal financial aid provided under the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 United States Code, Chapter 28; the state and federal earned income tax credit; health care resources; unemployment compensation; dislocated worker benefits; trade adjustment assistance; and other services available from other departments of State Government including the Department of Health and Human Services.
PART B
Sec. B-1. 26 MRSA §1193, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 149, §4, is repealed.
Sec. B-2. 26 MRSA §1193, sub-§10 is enacted to read:
(1) The individual is receiving a pension paid under the United States Social Security Act or any other pension or plan to which the individual made at least 50% of the contributions;
(2) All contributions to the plan were made by the individual and an employer or any other person or organization who is not a base period or chargeable employer; or
(3) The services performed for the employer by the individual during the base period, or remuneration received for these services, did not affect the individual's eligibility for, or increase the amount of, that pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity or similar payment.
PART C
Sec. C-1. 26 MRSA §1192, sub-§3, ¶A, as amended by PL 2005, c. 454, §1, is further amended to read:
(1) The individual worked less than full time for a majority of the weeks during that individual's base period and the individual is able and available for and actively seeking part-time work for at least the number of hours in a week comparable to those customarily worked in part-time employment during that individual's base period; or
(2) The individual worked full time for a majority of the weeks during that individual's base period, but is able and available for and actively seeking only part-time work because of the illness or disability of an immediate family member or because of limitations necessary for the safety or protection of the individual or individual's immediate family member.
This paragraph does not apply to a person who applies for benefits after September 30, 2008. This paragraph continues to apply to a person who applies for benefits on or before September 30, 2008 until that person has exhausted benefits payable under that application.
PART D
Sec. D-1. Money credited to State of Maine account in Unemployment Trust Fund under Section 903(d) of federal Social Security Act. Money credited to the account of the State of Maine in the federal Unemployment Trust Fund by the United States Secretary of the Treasury on March 13, 2002 pursuant to Section 903(d) of the federal Social Security Act may not be requisitioned from the State's account or used except for the payment of benefits and for the payment of expenses incurred for the administration of the State's unemployment compensation law and public employment offices. Money used for the payment of benefits is requisitioned as defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 26, section 1162. Money requisitioned and used for the payment of expenses incurred for the administration of the State's unemployment compensation law and public employment offices requires a specific appropriation by the Legislature as provided in section 2 of this Part. That use is permissible only if the expenses are incurred and the money is requisitioned after the effective date of a law making an appropriation that specifies the purposes for which the money is appropriated and the amounts appropriated for those purposes. Any amount that may be obligated under such an appropriation is limited to an amount that does not exceed the amount by which the aggregate of the amounts transferred to the account of the State of Maine pursuant to Section 903(d) of the federal Social Security Act exceeds the aggregate of the amounts used by the State pursuant to this Part and charged against the amounts transferred to the account of the State of Maine.
For purposes of this section, the amounts obligated under an appropriation for administrative purposes must be charged against transferred amounts at the exact time the obligation is entered into. The appropriation, obligation and expenditure or other disposition of money appropriated under this section must be accounted for in accordance with standards established by the United States Secretary of Labor. Money appropriated as provided in this Part for the payment of administration must be requisitioned as needed for the payment of obligations incurred under the appropriation and, upon requisition, must be deposited in the Employment Security Administration Fund from which payments are made. Money so deposited must, until expended, remain a part of the unemployment fund and, if it will not be immediately expended, must be returned promptly to the account of the State of Maine in the federal Unemployment Trust Fund.
Sec. D-2. Allocation maintaining state unemployment compensation and public employment system. There is allocated out of funds made available to the State under Section 903(d) of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, the sum of $5,200,000 in accordance with section 1, to be used under the direction of the Maine Department of Labor, for the purpose of maintaining and operating the State's unemployment compensation and public employment system. The uses include making needed technological improvements and upgrades to the unemployment insurance, employment services and labor market information services computer systems as they pertain to the analysis of unemployment information. It also includes administrative funding to help unemployment benefit recipients return to work more quickly.
The amount obligated pursuant to this Part may not exceed at any time the amount by which the aggregate of the amounts transferred to the account of the State of Maine pursuant to Section 903(d) of the federal Social Security Act exceeds the aggregate of the amounts obligated for administration and paid out for benefits and required by law to be charged against the amounts transferred to the State of Maine account.
summary
Part A establishes the Competitiveness Training Program to provide access to education, training and supports to customers of the Department of Labor's career centers to prepare them for high-wage jobs in industries with significant demand for skilled labor designated by the department. Part A also establishes the Competitiveness Training Fund. This fund receives payments from employers that are paid simultaneously with their unemployment insurance contributions. These payments are offset by a reduction in their unemployment insurance contributions. The net effect on employers of the fund payments and the reduction in unemployment compensation contributions is zero.
Part A also reduces the benefit reserve cap on the Unemployment Trust Fund from 21 months to 18 months, giving employers a reduction in unemployment taxes for the first 2 years following implementation.
Part B eliminates the pension offset against unemployment benefits for persons who receive social security or any other pension or plan to which the individual made at least 50% of the contributions. If the person contributed some amount to the pension, but less than 50%, the offset is made after deduction of that portion of the pension that is directly attributable to the percentage of the contributions made to the pension by that person.
Part C provides for the continuation of the unemployment compensation provision that permits certain people who are able and available for part-time work to receive unemployment benefits.
Part D provides for the distribution to the Department of Labor federal funds under the Reed Act. In 2002, Maine received $32,486,816 in Reed Act funds. Under federal law, these funds may be used only to maintain the State's unemployment and public employment system or to pay regular unemployment benefits. Part D authorizes the use of $5,200,000 of Reed Act funds to make technological upgrades and improvements to the unemployment insurance and employment services computer systems as well as improvements to the labor market information services computer systems as they pertain to the analysis of unemployment and employment data. Additionally, a portion of these funds will be used to pay the administrative costs associated with helping unemployment benefit recipients return to work more quickly and to reduce the benefit costs of the unemployment insurance program.