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HB0192a -1- HB 192
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HOUSE BILL NO. 192
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
BY REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID
Introduced: 4/14/25
Referred: Labor and Commerce, Finance
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to the payment of unemployment compensation be nefits; relating to a 1
penalty for late unemployment benefit payments; relating to inf lation adjustments to 2
unemployment benefit amounts; relating to an insured worker's a vailability for work; 3
and providing for an effective date." 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 5
* Section 1. AS 23.20.340(d) is amended to read: 6
(d) Unless the claimant is determined to be disqualified for b enefits under 7
AS 23.20.360, 23.20.362, 23.20.375, 23.20.378 - 23.20.387, or 2 3.20.505, benefits 8
shall be promptly paid in accord ance with the initial determina tion or subsequent 9
redetermination. The department may not delay payment of an approved weekly 10
benefit because of a holiday. A penalty payment equal to 10 percent of the benefit 11
due shall be paid to the claimant for each day the payment is late. 12
* Sec. 2. AS 23.20.340(f) is amended to read: 13
(f) If a determination of d isqualification under AS 23.20.360, 23.20.362, 14
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23.20.375, 23.20.378 - 23.20.387, or 23.20.505 is made, the cla imant shall be 1
promptly notified of the determin ation and the reasons for it. The claimant and other 2
interested parties as defined by regulations of the department may appeal the 3
determination in the same manner prescribed in this chapter for appeals of initial 4
determinations and redeterminati ons. Benefits may not be paid w hile a determination 5
is being appealed for any week for which the determination of d isqualification was 6
made. However, if a decision on the appeal allows benefits to t he claimant, those 7
benefits must be paid within 24 hours, including weekends and holidays. If the 8
benefits are not paid within 24 hours, a penalty payment equal to 10 percent of 9
the benefits due shall be paid to the claimant for each day the payment is late 10
[PROMPTLY]. 11
* Sec. 3. AS 23.20.340 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 12
(h) The department shall develop a contingency plan for periods when the call 13
center call volume may exceed the capacity of the call center. An insured worker may 14
not be disqualified from benefits , or have benefits reduced, fo r failure to timely 15
provide information through a call center if, during the week t he information was due, 16
the volume of calls received by the call center exceeded the ca pacity of the call center 17
to accept calls. 18
* Sec. 4. AS 23.20.350(d) is amended to read: 19
(d) An individual who is eligib le under (a) of this section is entitled to receive 20
the weekly benefit amount set out in column (B) of the table in this subsection that is 21
opposite the amount set out in column (A) of the individual's b ase period wages 22
determined under (c) of this section: 23
( A ) ( B ) 24
Base Period Wages Weekly Benefit 25
Amount 26
At least But less than 27
0 2,500 $ 0 28
2,500 2,750 56 29
2,750 3,000 58 30
3,000 3,250 60 31
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HB0192a -3- HB 192
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3,250 3,500 62 1
3,500 3,750 64 2
3,750 4,000 66 3
4,000 4,250 68 4
4,250 4,500 70 5
4,500 4,750 72 6
4,750 5,000 74 7
5,000 5,250 76 8
5,250 5,500 78 9
5,500 5,750 80 10
5,750 6,000 82 11
6,000 6,250 84 12
6,250 6,500 86 13
6,500 6,750 88 14
6,750 7,000 90 15
7,000 7,250 92 16
7,250 7,500 94 17
7,500 7,750 96 18
7,750 8,000 98 19
8,000 8,250 100 20
8,250 8,500 102 21
8,500 8,750 104 22
8,750 9,000 106 23
9,000 9,250 108 24
9,250 9,500 110 25
9,500 9,750 112 26
9,750 10,000 114 27
10,000 10,250 116 28
10,250 10,500 118 29
10,500 10,750 120 30
10,750 11,000 122 31
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11,000 11,250 124 1
11,250 11,500 126 2
11,500 11,750 128 3
11,750 12,000 130 4
12,000 12,250 132 5
12,250 12,500 134 6
12,500 12,750 136 7
12,750 13,000 138 8
13,000 13,250 140 9
13,250 13,500 142 10
13,500 13,750 144 11
13,750 14,000 146 12
14,000 14,250 148 13
14,250 14,500 150 14
14,500 14,750 152 15
14,750 15,000 154 16
15,000 15,250 156 17
15,250 15,500 158 18
15,500 15,750 160 19
15,750 16,000 162 20
16,000 16,250 164 21
16,250 16,500 166 22
16,500 16,750 168 23
16,750 17,000 170 24
17,000 17,250 172 25
17,250 17,500 174 26
17,500 17,750 176 27
17,750 18,000 178 28
18,000 18,250 180 29
18,250 18,500 182 30
18,500 18,750 184 31
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18,750 19,000 186 1
19,000 19,250 188 2
19,250 19,500 190 3
19,500 19,750 192 4
19,750 20,000 194 5
20,000 20,250 196 6
20,250 20,500 198 7
20,500 20,750 200 8
20,750 21,000 202 9
21,000 21,250 204 10
21,250 21,500 206 11
21,500 21,750 208 12
21,750 22,000 210 13
22,000 22,250 212 14
22,250 22,500 214 15
22,500 22,750 216 16
22,750 23,000 218 17
23,000 23,250 220 18
23,250 23,500 222 19
23,500 23,750 224 20
23,750 24,000 226 21
24,000 24,250 228 22
24,250 24,500 230 23
24,500 24,750 232 24
24,750 25,000 234 25
25,000 25,250 236 26
25,250 25,500 238 27
25,500 25,750 240 28
25,750 26,000 242 29
26,000 26,250 244 30
26,250 26,500 246 31
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HB 192 -6- HB0192a
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26,500 26,750 248 1
26,750 27,000 250 2
27,000 27,250 252 3
27,250 27,500 254 4
27,500 27,750 256 5
27,750 28,000 258 6
28,000 28,250 260 7
28,250 28,500 262 8
28,500 28,750 264 9
28,750 29,000 266 10
29,000 29,250 268 11
29,250 29,500 270 12
29,500 29,750 272 13
29,750 30,000 274 14
30,000 30,250 276 15
30,250 30,500 278 16
30,500 30,750 28017
30,750 31,000 28218
31,000 31,250 284 19
31,250 31,500 286 20
31,500 31,750 288 21
31,750 32,000 290 22
32,000 32,250 29223
32,250 32,500 294 24
32,500 32,750 296 25
32,750 33,000 298 26
33,000 33,250 300 27
33,250 33,500 302 28
33,500 33,750 304 29
33,750 34,000 306 30
34,000 34,250 308 31
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HB0192a -7- HB 192
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34,250 34,500 310 1
34,500 34,750 3122
34,750 35,000 314 3
35,000 35,250 316 4
35,250 35,500 318 5
35,500 35,750 3206
35,750 36,000 322 7
36,000 36,250 3248
36,250 36,500 3269
36,500 36,750 328 10
36,750 37,000 330 11
37,000 37,250 332 12
37,250 37,500 334 13
37,500 37,750 336 14
37,750 38,000 338 15
38,000 38,250 340 16
38,250 38,500 342 17
38,500 38,750 344 18
38,750 39,000 346 19
39,000 39,250 348 20
39,250 39,500 350 21
39,500 39,750 352 22
39,750 40,000 354 23
40,000 40,250 356 24
40,250 40,500 358 25
40,500 40,750 360 26
40,750 41,000 362 27
41,000 41,250 364 28
41,250 41,500 366 29
41,500 41,750 368 30
41,750 42,000 370 31
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HB 192 -8- HB0192a
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42,000 42,250 372 1
42,250 42,500 374 2
42,500 42,750 376 3
42,750 43,000 378 4
43,000 43,250 380 5
43,250 43,500 382 6
43,500 43,750 384 7
43,750 44,000 386 8
44,000 44,250 388 9
44,250 44,500 390 10
44,500 44,750 392 11
44,750 45,000 394 12
45,000 45,250 396 13
45,250 45,500 398 14
45,500 45,750 400 15
45,750 46,000 402 16
46,000 46,250 404 17
46,250 46,500 406 18
46,500 46,750 408 19
46,750 47,000 410 20
47,000 47,250 412 21
47,250 47,500 414 22
47,500 47,750 416 23
47,750 48,000 418 24
48,000 48,250 420 25
48,250 48,500 422 26
48,500 48,750 424 27
48,750 49,000 426 28
49,000 49,250 428 29
49,250 49,500 430 30
49,500 49,750 432 31
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HB0192a -9- HB 192
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49,750 50,000 434 1
50,000 50,250 436 2
50,250 50,500 438 3
50,500 50,750 440 4
50,750 51,000 442 5
51,000 51,250 444 6
51,250 51,500 446 7
51,500 51,750 448 8
51,750 52,000 450 9
52,000 52,250 452 10
52,250 52,500 454 11
52,500 52,750 456 12
52,750 53,000 458 13
53,000 53,250 460 14
53,250 53,500 462 15
53,500 53,750 464 16
53,750 54,000 466 17
54,000 54,250 468 18
54,250 54,500 470 19
54,500 54,750 472 20
54,750 55,000 474 21
55,000 55,250 476 22
55,250 55,500 478 23
55,500 55,750 480 24
55,750 56,000 482 25
56,000 56,250 484 26
56,250 56,500 486 27
56,500 56,750 488 28
56,750 57,000 490 29
57,000 57,250 492 30
57,250 57,500 494 31
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HB 192 -10- HB0192a
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57,500 57,750 496 1
57,750 58,000 498 2
58,000 58,250 500 3
58,250 58,500 502 4
58,500 58,750 504 5
58,750 59,000 506 6
59,000 59,250 508 7
59,250 59,500 510 8
59,500 59,750 512 9
59,750 60,000 514 10
60,000 60,250 516 11
60,250 60,500 518 12
60,500 60,750 520 13
60,750 61,000 522 14
61,000 61,250 524 15
61,250 61,500 526 16
61,500 61,750 528 17
61,750 62,000 530 [370]. 18
* Sec. 5. AS 23.20.350(f) is amended to read: 19
(f) An individual who establishes a benefit year is eligible for an allowance for 20
dependents in addition to the individual's weekly benefit amount. The department may 21
require an individual claiming or receiving an allowance for de pendents to produce 22
income tax returns, birth certif icates, notices of adoption or custody, social security 23
account number of spouse, verifi cation of support documents, or other information 24
necessary to verify that the allowance is payable to the indivi dual. The allowance for 25
dependents 26
(1) is $35 [$24] per week for each depende nt, except that the total 27
allowance for dependents paid to an individual may not exceed $105 [$72] for each 28
week of unemployment; 29
(2) is payable beginning with the week during the benefit year i n 30
which the individual claims an allowance for the dependent and i s p a y a b l e f o r t h e 31
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HB0192a -11- HB 192
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remainder of the individual's eligibility for regular, extended , or supplemental 1
payments during the benefit year; 2
(3) may not be claimed for a new dependent after the end of the benefit 3
year or after the exhaustion of regular benefits in the benefit year. [; 4
(4) REPEALED 5
(5) REPEALED] 6
* Sec. 6. AS 23.20.350 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 7
(h) On July 1 of each year, the department shall increase the maximum base 8
period wages in (d) of this section by a percentage equal to th e average percentage of 9
increase over the first three of the preceding four calendar ye ars in all items of the 10
Consumer Price Index for all urba n consumers for urban Alaska p repared by the 11
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and calculate new 12
weekly benefit amounts accordingly. 13
* Sec. 7. AS 23.20.360 is amended to read: 14
Sec. 23.20.360. Earnings deducted fr om weekly benefit amount. The 15
amount of benefits, excluding the allowance for dependents, pay able to an insured 16
worker for a week of unemployment shall be reduced by 75 percen t o f t h e w a g e s 17
payable to the insured worker for that week that are in excess of $50. However, the 18
amount of benefits may not be reduced below zero. If the benefi t is not a multiple of 19
$1, it is computed to the next higher multiple of $1. If the benefit is zero, no allowance 20
for dependents is payable. The reduction of benefits p ayable to an insured worker 21
shall begin the week the insured worker receives payment of wag es from 22
employment. The insured worker shall provide to the department accurate 23
documentation of the date the insured worker began employment a nd the 24
employer's payroll schedule. In addition to any other penalty that may apply, the 25
department shall recover and remit to the unemployment trust fu nd 26
(AS 23.20.135(a)) 100 percent of any overpayment resulting from t h e f a i l u r e o f 27
the insured worker to provide accurate documentation of the dat e the insured 28
worker began employment or the employer's payroll schedule. 29
* Sec. 8. AS 23.20.375(a) is amended to read: 30
(a) An insured worker is entitled to receive [WAITING-WEEK CRE DIT OR] 31
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benefits for a week of unemployment for which the insured worke r has not been 1
disqualified under AS 23.20.360, 23.20.362, 23.20.378 - 23.20.387, or 23.20.505 if, in 2
accordance with regulations adopted by the department, the insu red worker has made 3
a claim for benefits 4
[(1) MADE AN INITIAL CLAIM FOR BENEFITS; AND 5
(2) FOR THAT WEEK, CERTIFIED FOR WAITING-WEEK 6
CREDIT OR MADE A CLAIM FOR BENEFITS]. 7
* Sec. 9. AS 23.20.378(a) is amended to read: 8
(a) An insured worker is entitled to receive [WAITING-WEEK CRE DIT OR] 9
benefits for a week of unemployment if for that week the insure d worker is able to 10
work and available for suitable work. An insured worker is not considered available 11
for work unless registered for work in accordance with regulati ons adopted by the 12
department. An insured worker may not be disqualified for failu re to comply with this 13
subsection if 14
(1) the insured worker is not available for work because the i nsured 15
worker 16
(A) is ill or disabled; 17
(B) is traveling to obtain medical services that are not avail able 18
in the area in which the insured worker resides, or, if a physi cian determines it 19
is necessary, the insured worker is accompanying a spouse or dependent who is 20
traveling to obtain medical services; 21
(C) resides in the state and is noncommercially hunting or 22
fishing for personal survival or the survival of dependents; 23
(D) is serving as a prospective or impaneled juror in a court; 24
[OR] 25
(E) is attending the funeral of an immediate family member for 26
a period of not [NO] longer than seven days; 27
(F) is, for two weeks or less, traveling outside of the area i n 28
which the insured worker customarily commutes and the insured w orker 29
has 30
(i) demonstrated that, during the relevant base 31
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period, the insured worker was permitted, on average, to work 1
remotely at least 50 percent of the time; or 2
(ii) accepted an offer of work that begins after the 3
insured worker's return from travel, and the insured worker 4
provides documentation that an earlier start date was not 5
available; [AND] 6
(2) a condition described in (1)(A) - (E) [(1)] of this subsection occurs 7
during an uninterrupted period of unemployment immediately foll owing a week for 8
which the insured worker has filed a compensable claim, and wor k has not been 9
offered that would have been suitable for the insured worker be fore the illness, 10
disability, hunting, fishing, medical travel, jury service, or funeral attendance. 11
* Sec. 10. AS 23.20.378(c) is amended to read: 12
(c) An insured worker is disqualified for [WAITING-WEEK CREDIT O R ] 13
benefits for a week of unemploym ent while the insured worker is pursuing an 14
academic education. A disqualifi cation under this subsection be g i n s w i t h t h e f i r s t 15
week of academic instruction and ends with the week immediately before the first full 16
week in which the insured worker is no longer pursuing an acade mic education. 17
However, an insured worker who has been pursuing an academic education for at least 18
one school term and who was working at least 30 hours a week du ring a significant 19
portion of the time that the worker was pursuing an academic ed ucation is not 20
disqualified for [WAITING-WEEK CREDIT OR] benefits under this subsection if the 21
worker's academic schedule does not preclude full-time work in the worker's 22
occupation and if the insured worker became unemployed because the worker was laid 23
off or the worker's job was eliminated. In this subsection, 24
(1) "pursuing an academic educa tion" means attending an establ ished 25
school in a course of study provi ding academic instruction of 1 0 or more credit hours 26
per week, or the equivalent; 27
(2) "school" includes primary schools, secondary schools, and 28
institutions of higher education. 29
* Sec. 11. AS 23.20.378 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 30
(d) The department shall collect information about an insured worker's remote 31
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work history when the insured worker files a claim for benefits. 1
* Sec. 12. AS 23.20.379(a) is amended to read: 2
(a) An insured worker is disqualified for [WAITING-WEEK CREDIT O R ] 3
benefits for the first five weeks [WEEK] in which the insured worker is unemployed 4
[AND FOR THE NEXT FIVE WEEKS OF UNEMPLOYMENT FOLLOWING 5
THAT WEEK] if the insured worker 6
(1) left the insured worker's last suitable work voluntarily w ithout 7
good cause; or 8
(2) was discharged for misconduct connected with the insured worker's 9
last work. 10
* Sec. 13. AS 23.20.379(b) is amended to read: 11
(b) An insured worker is disqualified for [WAITING-WEEK CREDIT O R ] 12
benefits for a week and the next five weeks of unemployment fol lowing that week if, 13
for that week, the insured worker fails without good cause 14
(1) to apply for available suitable work to which the insured worker 15
was referred by the employment office; or 16
(2) to accept suitable work when offered to the insured worker. 17
* Sec. 14. AS 23.20.379(e) is amended to read: 18
(e) An insured worker is disqualified for [WAITING-WEEK CREDIT O R ] 19
benefits for the first week in w hich the insured worker is unemployed and for the next 20
51 weeks of unemployment following that week or until the indiv idual has worked 21
subsequent to the discharge from work and earned 20 times the i nsured worker's 22
weekly benefit amount in employment covered under this chapter if the insured 23
worker was discharged for commi ssion of a felony or theft in co nnection with the 24
work. In addition, the insured worker is not eligible for exten ded benefits under this 25
chapter until the worker has requalified for benefits by meetin g the earnings 26
requirement in this subsection. 27
* Sec. 15. AS 23.20.382(a) is amended to read: 28
( a ) B e n e f i t s [ O R W A I T I N G - W E E K C R E D I T ] f o r a n y w e e k m a y n o t b e 29
denied an otherwise eligible individual because the individual is attending a vocational 30
training or retraining course w ith the approval of the director of the division 31
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HB0192a -15- HB 192
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responsible for employment and training services or because, wh ile attending the 1
course, the individual is not available for work or refuses an offer of work. 2
* Sec. 16. AS 23.20.382(b) is amended to read: 3
(b) An otherwise eligible individual may not be denied benefit s [OR 4
W A I T I N G - W E E K C R E D I T ] f o r a n y w e e k b e c a u s e t h e i n d i v i d u a l i s i n training 5
approved under 19 U.S.C. 2296(a)(1) (sec. 236(a)(1), Trade Act of 1974), if 6
(1) while attending the training, the individual is not availa ble for 7
work, fails to seek work, or refuses work; or 8
(2) the individual left work that was not suitable employment to enter 9
training. 10
* Sec. 17. AS 23.20.382(d) is amended to read: 11
(d) An otherwise eligible individual may not be denied benefit s [OR 12
WAITING-WEEK CREDIT] for any week because the individual is in any training 13
approved under P.L. 105-220 (Workf orce Investment Act of 1998) and, while 14
attending the training, is not available for work, fails to seek work, or refuses work. 15
* Sec. 18. AS 23.20.383(a) is amended to read: 16
(a) An insured worker is disqualified for [WAITING-WEEK CREDIT O R ] 17
benefits for a week of the insured worker's unemployment if, fo r that week, the 18
department finds the insured wor ker's unemployment is due to a stoppage of work 19
caused by a labor dispute at the immediate establishment or oth er premises at which 20
the insured worker is or was last employed. For the purposes of this section, each 21
separate department of the same premises that [WHICH] is commonly conducted as a 22
separate business in separate premises is considered a separate establishment or other 23
premises. 24
* Sec. 19. AS 23.20.520(7) is amended to read: 25
(7) "claimant" means an individua l who has filed a request for a 26
determination of insured status, a notice of unemployment, [A C ERTIFICATION 27
FOR WAITING-WEEK CREDIT,] or a claim for benefits; 28
* Sec. 20. AS 23.20.375(b) and 23.20.520(22) are repealed. 29
* Sec. 21. This Act takes effect July 1, 2025. 30