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Last week, was filed to enact reforms to Kentucky鈥檚 current unemployment insurance benefit program. Filed by Representative Russell Webber, a 2021 GLI MVP, the bill aims to modernize several key parts of the current benefit program to both support laid-off workers and encourage rapid re-employment.

The proposed reforms stemmed from the work of the General Assembly鈥檚 Unemployment Insurance Reform Task Force which examined Kentucky鈥檚 current system during the 2021 Interim Session. Kentucky鈥檚 workforce participation rate has historically been one of the country鈥檚 lowest with only 56.8% of adults employed or actively seeking employment.

The proposed reforms in HB 4 are designed to provide unemployed workers with the help they need while also providing them to tools to quickly find the next step in their career.

Key parts of the bill include:

• Increasing the work search requirement to include five weekly activities, at least three of which must be applying or interviewing for a job. The definition of work search activities has also been revised to include networking events, job shadowing, and participating in skills or jobs training.
• Establishes a 鈥淣o-Show鈥� reporting system for employers to address the issue of candidates who fail to show up for interviews or refuse an offer of suitable work.
• Extends benefits by up to five weeks if the claimant is enrolled in an approved job training or certification program.
• Indexes the maximum duration of benefit weeks to Kentucky鈥檚 average unemployment rate with a range of 12 weeks when the rate is 4.5% to as much as 24 weeks when the rate is 10%.

GLI strongly supports these reforms and recognizes the need to keep unemployed workers engaged and re-employed. Follow GLI鈥檚 Policy Distilled for updates as this bill progresses.