Unemployment Insurance Modernization and Recession Readiness Act
The Unemployment Insurance Modernization and Recession Readiness Act is a comprehensive overhaul of the federal-state unemployment insurance system. It aims to strengthen protections for workers during downturns and provide more predictable, higher baseline benefits. Key changes include making extended unemployment benefits fully funded by the federal government, updating triggers to expand benefits during recessions (including a national elevated-unemployment trigger), and raising minimums for regular unemployment (weeks of benefits, minimum wage replacement, and maximum benefits). The bill also broadens access and flexibility—such as allowing partial unemployment, offering self-employment assistance, expanding protections for victims of violence, and making benefits more portable across states. It sets a 2027 effectiveness timeline (with some provisions usable earlier if states adopt them) and introduces a set of programmatic improvements designed to reduce gaps in coverage and improve responsiveness during economic shocks. In short, the bill seeks to modernize both extended and regular unemployment programs, ensure more uniform baselines across states, simplify or expand certain eligibility rules, and provide additional economic stabilization tools for workers, states, and the broader economy.
Key Points
- 1Full federal funding of extended unemployment benefits (with certain conditions for state administration and employer experience rating), plus new coordination rules with regular benefits and enhanced triggers during high unemployment periods.
- 2Expanded and tiered triggers for extended benefits, including:
- 3- State TUR (Total Unemployment Rate) triggers based on a 3-month average, and a national elevated-unemployment trigger that uses the all-states unemployment rate.
- 4- A system that increases benefit amounts and weeks during higher unemployment tiers and coordinates these with existing triggers.
- 5Stronger minimums for regular unemployment benefits, including:
- 6- A floor of at least 26 weeks of benefits (no shorter-duration formula).
- 7- A floor on minimum replacement of wages (the weekly benefit equals at least 75% of earnings in the top earning quarter, divided by 13, subject to state maximums).
- 8- A floor on maximum benefits (not less than two-thirds of the state’s average weekly wage, adjusted annually).
- 9Provisions to support part-time and flexible work, including:
- 10- Protections for workers who seek fewer than full-time hours (and rules for partial benefits with earnings disregards).
- 11- Temporary work assignments treated as involuntary layoffs for eligibility purposes.
- 12- Self-employment assistance and short-time compensation programs.
- 13Reforms to base periods and eligibility:
- 14- Base periods updated to ensure more reliable qualification, including scenarios for caregivers, medical leave, or illness.
- 15- Expanded good-cause separations (compelling reasons to quit and qualify for benefits), including illness of a family member, relocation for a spouse’s job, child care needs, and employer-law violations.
- 16Expanded protections for specific groups:
- 17- Unemployment compensation for victims of qualifying acts of violence or harassment, with documentation requirements and definitions aligned with relevant federal law.
- 18Administrative and transitional features:
- 19- Portability of extended benefits across state lines.
- 20- Transition provisions so amounts remaining in EB accounts can be paid for up to six months after an off indicator.
- 21- Exemption of extended benefits from sequestration.
- 22- A documented effective date, with most provisions taking effect for weeks of unemployment beginning in 2027 (earlier if a state acts sooner).
- 23Title III introduces a Jobseeker Allowance (details not fully provided in the excerpt).