WV Senate advances bill addressing unemployment benefits

The bill would tie the maximum duration of benefits to the state average unemployment rate from the preceding quarter. If the rate is below 5.5%, which is legally considered full employment, benefits would be limited to a maximum duration of 12 weeks, according to the bill.

For each half-percent increase in the unemployment rate, up to 9%, the maximum duration of benefits would be extended by one week. If the unemployment rate exceeds 9%, benefits will be capped at 20 weeks, according to the bill.

Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, spoke against passage of the bill.

“Somehow, for some reason, this bill reduces the number of weeks that a worker can collect unemployment benefits,” Caputo said.

While the bill makes it more difficult for people to defraud the unemployment system, the cut in benefits does not help West Virginia’s workers, Caputo said.

“I think if someone is gaming the system, they should be dealt with, they should be dealt with swiftly, and they should be prosecuted,” Caputo said.

“I look around this chamber and I see a lot of very successful businessmen and women, and I applaud you for that. But I don’t know how many of you ever had to survive on unemployment benefits.”

Caputo said 26 weeks of unemployment under the current law isn’t always enough, and 12 to 20 under the proposed legislation won’t be, either.

“Things get extremely tough and, sometimes, 26 weeks is not enough. I’ll tell you what I do know. I do know that 12 is not enough. And I do know that 20 is not enough when you’re trying to pay the light bill and you’re trying to provide for your kids,” Caputo said.

Caputo said he doesn’t understand why the state is so generous with corporations but not with workers.

“We hand out things to corporations all the time, and I’m supportive of that because we all believe it brings jobs to West Virginia. And we all want people to succeed and have good employment,” Caputo said. “But when it comes to workers, it seems like it’s a constant beatdown. I just don’t get why we had to single out the men and women that make West Virginia go.”

Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, noted the Legislature can change the maximum number of weeks later, if needed.

“If unemployment gets too high for too long, we can come back and increase the term,” Clements said.

That wasn’t enough of an assurance for Caputo. He noted there is nothing in the bill that would compel the Legislature to take such an action.

“Is there something in this bill that specifically says, ‘if there is a recession, we will come back and visit it?’” Caputo asked. “We can come back as a Legislature and address anything we want, but there’s nothing in there that says we’ll come back and address this if times get tough.”

The bill would allow workers to accept part-time work and keep their benefits if their wages are less than the benefit amount, WorkForce West Virginia Commissioner Scott Adkins said.

The bill would also place more specific requirements on workers to show they are looking for a job. The bill outlines qualifying job-search activities and places greater requirements on documenting job-search efforts.

Also under the proposed bill, employers would be able to report to WorkForce West Virginia instances in which people filled out applications but didn’t show up for an interview. In those cases, a worker’s benefits could be cut off until they are able to explain why they didn’t make it to the interview, lawmakers said.