Requires that the average annual wage and average weekly wage of the state of New York, which determine the maximum cap for unemployment insurance benefits, be adjusted for inflation each year.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11019
IN ASSEMBLY
April 21, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FORREST -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to indexing unemployment
benefits to inflation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 529 of the labor law, as added by section 3 of part
2 O of chapter 57 of the laws of 2013, and subdivision 1 as amended by
3 section 2 of part KK of chapter 56 of the laws of 2025, is amended to
4 read as follows:
5 § 529. Average annual wage; average weekly wage. 1. The "average
6 annual wage" shall be the average annual wage of the state of New York
7 for the previous calendar year as determined by the commissioner no
8 later than the thirty-first day of May of each year, increased by the
9 rate of inflation, if greater than zero, as based on the consumer price
10 index for the previous calendar year, as reported by the United States
11 bureau of labor statistics. For purposes of calculating "wages" pursu-
12 ant to paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section five hundred eighteen
13 of this title only, the "average annual wage" shall be calculated using
14 the four most recent quarters of published New York state quarterly
15 census of employment and wages data.
16 2. The "average weekly wage" shall be the average weekly wage of the
17 state of New York for the previous calendar year, as determined by the
18 commissioner no later than the thirty-first day of May of each year,
19 increased by the rate of inflation, if greater than zero, as based on
20 the consumer price index for the previous calendar year, as reported by
21 the United States bureau of labor statistics.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
23 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15609-01-6
