Senate Pushes Changes To Limit Unemployment Benefits Under Shadow of Massive Layoffs
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CHARLESTON - For a third time since 2022, Republican members of the West Virginia Senate are pushing a change to tie the number of weeks of unemployment benefits to the unemployment rate while two major employers have announced layoffs.
The Senate approved motions Monday to place two bills on first reading, ensuring the bills make it to third reading in time for the Crossover Day deadline Wednesday: Senate Bill 840, modifying unemployment benefits; and Senate Bill 841, setting the amount of unemployment benefit taxes and benefits.
SB 840 would tie the number of weeks of available unemployment benefits to the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, reducing the current number of maximum weeks of benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks if the unemployment rate is higher than 9%. The number of weeks of unemployment benefits would continue to reduce, with the maximum number of weeks of benefits dropping to 12 weeks when the unemployment rate is less than 5.5%.
SB 840 would also make changes to the kinds of activities required to remain eligible for unemployment benefits, such as conducting four out of a possible 10 work search activities. The bill also reduces the amount of the weekly benefit, which is based on a percentage of the person's average weekly wage and sets a $550 cap on weekly benefits.
SB 841, a companion bill to SB 840, makes changes to state employment taxes and benefits and modifies the calculation for the taxable base wage. Both bills, which would go into effect until 2025 if passed and signed into law - were recommended for passage Saturday by the Senate Finance Committee.
The Senate voted 25-5 to take up SB 840 for immediate consideration and read the bill a first time. The motion was opposed by Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and State Sens. Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio; Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur; Robert Karnes, R-Randolph; and Mike Caputo, D-Marion.
Caputo, a retired union official with the United Mine Workers of America, pointed out that SB 840 comes as two major employers in the state announced massive layoffs. Cleveland-Cliffs announced that the idling of its tinplate manufacturing plant in Weirton could see as many as 900 workers lose their jobs. Allegheny Wood Products, with multiple locations in the Potomac Highlands, also announced it was shuttering, affecting as many as 600 workers.
"With the recent happenings in the news that we've heard in Weirton and in the wood products plant, there could be 2,000 jobs on the line," Caputo said. "I think this is a horrible time to do this."
"I understand the Senator's concerns, and those concerns are not lost on me," said Senate Finance Committee Eric Tarr, R-Putnam. "But this legislation does not affect any of those employees whatsoever, because this is prospective and does not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2025, so this would not affect any of those unemployment benefits."
The Senate has tried since 2022 to push for legislation to index the number of weeks of unemployment benefits to the state's unemployment rate. That year, the Senate passed Senate Bill 2 in a 20-14 vote. But that bill was placed on the House of Delegates' inactive calendar at the end of the 2022 legislative session. In 2023, the Senate passed Senate Bill 59 in a 27-5 vote, but that bill was referred to the House Workforce Committee and never taken up.