What's happening
This bill allows individuals to receive unemployment benefits if they leave their job to accompany a spouse who is transferred for military duty.
Why it matters
Supports military families by reducing financial hardship. military spouses often face difficult choices when their partner is transferred; this bill ensures they aren't penalized for following a spouse’s mandatory military relocation.
Addresses employment instability unique to military life. frequent and sometimes unpredictable moves can make it hard for military spouses to maintain careers; unemployment benefits can provide a critical bridge during transitions.
Promotes fairness and parity with other states. many states have similar allowances, so this change helps New York keep pace in supporting military families and attracting/retaining service members stationed in the state.
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Who cares
Military spouses
The bill would allow spouses who voluntarily leave work to accompany a U.S. armed forces member on a military transfer to qualify for unemployment benefits when commuting from the new location is impractical.
U.S. armed forces members
The bill would provide unemployment benefit eligibility for spouses who leave jobs to accompany them to a new military assignment beyond practical commuting distance.
New York State Department of Labor
The agency would apply a new unemployment eligibility provision for workers who leave employment to accompany a military spouse under the specified transfer and commuting conditions.
Headline styles
Unemployment For Military Spouses
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 40
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to labor
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 61–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1699
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Referred to veterans, homeland security and military affairs
- Referred to veterans, homeland security and military affairs
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Unemployment For Transferred Military Spouses
In Assembly Committee · Labor · Sponsor Felix Ortiz
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
306
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 4, 2017
Introduced by Sen. MURPHY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to the eligibility for unemployment benefits for individuals who voluntarily separate from employment to accompany a spouse who is the subject of a military transfer
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 593 of the labor law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (iv) to read as follows:
(iv) where the spouse of the individual is a member of the armed forces of the United States, the need for the individual to accompany such individual's spouse (A) to a place from which it is impractical for such individual to commute and (B) due to a change in location as a result of a military transfer of the spouse.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02334-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the eligibility for unemployment benefits for individuals who voluntarily separate from employment to accompany a spouse who is the subject of a military transfer
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to permit an individual who quits work to accompany the individual's spouse on a military transfer to be eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.
Summary of provisions
An individual's spouse being a member of the United States armed services, the subject of a military transfer, and the individual having left employment to accompany the spouse are added to the list of non-disqualifying reasons for separation from employment. Individuals who fall under these circumstances are therefore eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.
If the individual was previously employed by a contributory employer, the benefits are not charged to the employer and are paid from the mutualized account in the Unemployment Compensation Fund. This account is a separate account in the fund the primary use of which is to pay benefits when an employer's account cannot be charged for those benefits. If the employer was a reimbursing employer, the employer pays the benefits by reimbursing the fund.
Justification
The Unemployment Compensation Law includes certain conditions that an individual must meet and certain procedures the individual must follow in order to qualify for unemployment compensation benefits. It also specifies disqualifying factors for those who lose jobs and, in such cases, procedures under which an individual may remove the disqualification. Qualification is generally easy when a valid application is submitted, a proper claim made for benefits, registration made at an employment office, and the individual can and actively seeks employment.
An application for benefits is valid if the filing individual is unemployed, has separated from employment for a non-disqualifying reason, was employed by an employer or employers who are subject to the Unemployment Compensation Law for at least 20 weeks within the calendar year preceding the first day of the individual's alternate base period, and has earned an average weekly wage of less than 27.5% of the statewide average weekly wage for that 20-week minimum period.
Unemployment compensation is funded through a federal-state partnership. Federal law requires each state to establish its own unemployment compensation fund for purposes of paying unemployment benefits so that employers receive a tax credit under the Unemployment Tax Act. States can determine how much to pay in unemployment benefits, meaning that state system must pay whatever the state establishes, and no more. In the event of a depletion of the state's fund, a governor may apply to the U.S. Secretary of Labor to get a three-month advance for the payment of unemployment benefits if the state can't pay its benefits. Having received federal advance money makes a state more restricted in the changes it can make to its unemployment compensation system. The state is then unable to take action which will reduce either its unemployment tax effort or decrease the solvency of its unemployment compensation system. However, despite these restrictions, the U.S. Department of Labor has stated that similar bills did not interfere with the requirements of the federal Unemployment Compensation Law.
Legislative history
2015-2016: S.3633A - Ordered to third reading, cal. 1357 2014: S.6629 - Passed Senate
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.