A measure to keep certain unemployment benefits that were expanded in Georgia during the coronavirus pandemic cleared a key state House committee Wednesday.
The move comes as Georgia continues grappling with the economic fallout from coronavirus, which prompted roughly 2 million people to file unemployment claims and shot the state’s jobless rate up to nearly 12% in April.
Amid the pandemic, those who qualified for unemployment benefits were granted leeway to collect payments for up to 26 weeks instead of the usual 14 weeks, and enjoyed a boost in the allowance rate that let them keep up to $300 per week in wages earned – instead of the usual $50 – on top of their benefits.
Those expanded benefits are set to expire once Gov. Brian Kemp ends the state’s public health emergency, which currently runs through June.
But language added this week to a bill originally dealing with paid sick leave proposes to let the state labor commissioner keep those expanded benefits largely in place, depending on the state’s jobless rate.
The number of weeks would increase incrementally from 14 weeks when the state’s jobless rate is 4.5% up to 26 weeks when the jobless rate is 10% or higher.
The labor commissioner would also have authority to set the weekly deductible threshold at between $50 and $300, according to the revised bill.
Senate Bill 408, as revised, would also grant the labor commissioner powers during a statewide governor-declared emergency to modify the maximum benefit amount and relax rules on claims processing, unemployment insurance tax filing deadlines and work-search reporting.
It would also allow the labor commissioner to establish a work-sharing program that lets employers avoid layoffs by reducing their employees’ work hours but giving them prorated unemployment benefits.
Without the bill’s passage, the expanded unemployment benefits would return to normal levels once the governor ends the statewide public health emergency, said Jeffrey Babcock, the labor department’s legal services manager.
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