Provides for the preservation of a claimant's eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits while the claimant is studying to become a teacher or a nurse

Title of bill

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the preservation of eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits for persons participating in training programs leading to becoming a registered professional nurse or certified teacher

Purpose or general idea of bill

Allows unemployment insurance claimants, attending certain teacher and nurse training programs to participate in the 599 training program.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 amends the Labor Law to allow unemployment insurance claimants, attending forty-eight month training programs designed to educate the claimant to become a registered professional nurse or a certified teacher, to participate in the 599 unemployment insurance program.

Section 2 contains the effective date of the act.

Justification

Under current law, unemployed workers who participate in the training programs that require more than twenty-four months to complete are not allowed to participate in the 599 unemployment insurance program. Claimants who are approved for the 599 program are not required to be available for or work while attending an approved training program. When funding is available, some claimants participating in the 599 program are also entitled to additional unemployment benefits if their regular benefits expire.

Today, there is a statewide shortage of nurses and teachers. As the average age of both nurses and teachers keeps increasing, retirement will cause an even greater shortage in the upcoming years. In addition, the number of registered nurse graduations has been declining annually, further contributing to the shortage and negatively impacting the quality and availability of patient care in New York State. Also, the number of students graduating with teaching degrees will be insufficient to refill those positions of teachers who leave employment in the upcoming years, resulting in schools with inadequate ratios of qualified teachers per students.

Since most teacher and registered nurse training programs require more than twenty-four months to complete, unemployment insurance claimants attending these programs are not eligible to participate in the 599 program. This legislation would provide an incentive for unemployed workers to enter nurse and teacher training programs.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.