Facing a deadline to forward bills to the House of Delegates, West Virginia’s senators modified a proposal in relation to the state’s unemployment safety net. Senator Eric Nelson explained that amendments were necessary to the proposal for the stability of the state’s unemployment trust fund, easing employer’s financial burden, and ensuring unemployment benefits remain available for those who have been laid off from work. The changes were significant to be made since a legislative deadline was imminent, as indicated by Senator Mike Caputo. The Senate voted 24-7 in favor of the latest version of the bill, which will now be put forward to the House of Delegates.

Initial changes to the unemployment benefits were proposed during a Finance Committee meeting on a Saturday. Those adjustments included using West Virginia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate to determine the benefit eligibility period. It would have meant, for instance, if the average unemployment rate were below 5.5 percent, the maximum duration of benefits would be 12 weeks. Under current West Virginia law, the maximum number of weeks of unemployment is 26. The previous proposal also considered reducing the maximum weekly benefit rate from its current 66 and two thirds of average weekly wages down to 55 percent.

The newly introduced iteration of the bill allows for a maximum 24 weeks of unemployment eligibility and doesn’t tie the duration of eligibility to the unemployment rate. The modified proposal lessens the amount of the benefit gradually over time. The proposed benefit would start at 70 percent of average weekly wages which is more than the current rate in the initial four weeks of unemployment. This rate would gradually decrease; after the second four weeks of unemployment, the benefit rate would be 65 percent of the worker’s weekly wage, lowering through the sixth four-week period when the benefit rate would be 45 percent. The new proposal, criticized for its introduction amidst job losses at significant companies, is proposed to be implemented from Jan. 1, 2025.

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