STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2131
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 15, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JOHN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to expanding eligibility for
unemployed workers who would benefit from retraining and increase
funding for the provision of extended unemployment insurance benefits
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 599 of the labor law, as amended by chapter 593 of
2 the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 599. Career and related training; preservation of eligibility. 1.
4 Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, a claimant shall
5 not become ineligible for benefits because of the claimant's regular
6 attendance in a program of training which the commissioner has approved.
7 The commissioner shall give due consideration to existing and prospec-
8 tive conditions of the labor market in the state, taking into account
9 present and anticipated supply and demand regarding the occupation or
10 skill to which the training relates, and to any other relevant factor. A
11 determination of potential eligibility for benefits under this article
12 shall be issued to an unemployed individual if the commissioner finds
13 that the training is authorized by the federal workforce investment act,
14 the department, the New York state departments of education, correction-
15 al services, health, or the office of mental health, the empire state
16 development corporation, or the state university of New York educational
17 opportunity center. However, in no event shall the commissioner approve
18 [such] training for a claimant not authorized by such legislative act or
19 state or quasi-state entity listed above unless:
20 (a) (1) the training will upgrade the claimant's existing skill or
21 train the claimant for an occupation likely to lead to more regular long
22 term employment; enable claimant to obtain employment that achieves
23 wage preservation or makes progress toward a family-sustaining wage; or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04722-01-9
A. 2131 2
1 (2) employment opportunities for the claimant are or may be substan-
2 tially impaired because of:
3 (i) existing or prospective conditions of the labor market in the
4 locality or in the state or reduced opportunities for employment in the
5 claimant's occupation or skill; or
6 (ii) technological change, plant closing or plant removal, discontin-
7 uance of specific plant operations, or similar reasons; or
8 (iii) limited opportunities for employment throughout the year due to
9 the seasonal nature of the industry in which the claimant is customarily
10 employed; or
11 (iv) the claimant's personal traits such as physical or mental hand-
12 icap; and
13 (b) the training, including remedial education which is integral to
14 career advancement or required for completing career-related training,
15 relates to an occupation or skill for which there are, or are expected
16 to be in the immediate future, reasonable employment opportunities in
17 the state; and
18 (c) the training is offered by a competent and reliable agency and
19 does not require more than twenty-four months to complete; and
20 (d) the claimant has the required qualifications and aptitudes to
21 complete the training successfully.
22 2. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a claimant
23 attending an approved training course or program under this section may
24 receive additional benefits of up to one hundred four effective days
25 following exhaustion of regular and, if in effect, any other extended
26 benefits, provided that entitlement to a new benefit claim cannot be
27 established. Certification of continued satisfactory participation and
28 progress in such training course or program must be submitted to the
29 commissioner prior to the payment of any such benefits. [The duration of
30 such additional benefits shall in no case exceed twice the number of
31 effective days of regular benefits to which the claimant is entitled at
32 the time the claimant is accepted in, or demonstrates application for
33 appropriate training.] Any unemployed individual receiving unemployment
34 insurance benefits payable under this subdivision, who notifies the
35 department with the intent to seek training opportunities under this
36 article no later than the sixteenth week of his or her receiving bene-
37 fits, and is determined eligible for benefits under this article, is
38 entitled to a training extension of the full one hundred four effective
39 days on his or her unemployment compensation claim, if necessary, to
40 complete approved training.
41 (b) No more than [twenty] fifty million dollars of benefits per year
42 shall be made available for payment to claimants participating in such
43 courses or programs.
44 (c) Participation in such training course or program shall not be
45 limited to any selected areas or localities of the state but subject to
46 the availability of funds, shall be available to any claimant otherwise
47 eligible to participate in training courses or programs pursuant to this
48 section.
49 (d) The additional benefits paid to a claimant shall be charged to the
50 general account.
51 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, a claimant who
52 is in training approved under the federal trade act of nineteen hundred
53 seventy-four shall not be disqualified or become ineligible for benefits
54 because he is in such training or because he left employment which is
55 not suitable employment to enter such training. For purposes hereof,
56 "suitable employment" means work of a substantially equal or higher
A. 2131 3
1 skill level than the claimant's past adversely affected employment and
2 for which the remuneration is not less than eighty percent of the claim-
3 ant's average weekly wage.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
