Temporary Unemployment Insurance
Provisions
Katelin P. Isaacs
Analyst in Income Security
August 15, 2013
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41508
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress
Temporary Unemployment Insurance Provisions
Summary
Several key provisions related to extended federal unemployment benefits are temporary and,
therefore, scheduled to expire.
The temporary 100% federal financing of the Extended Benefit (EB) program ends December 31,
2013.
The temporary option for states to use three-year lookbacks as part of their EB triggers expires
the week ending on or before December 31, 2013.
Authorization for the temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program is
scheduled to expire the week ending on or before January 1, 2014 (i.e., December 28, 2013, in all
states except New York State, in which the program ends December 29, 2013).
Once these federal unemployment provisions expire, only regular, state-financed unemployment
benefits from the Unemployment Compensation (UC) program will generally be available. In
most states, UC provides up to 26 weeks of benefits.
This report describes the consequences of these expirations for the financing and availability of
unemployment benefits in states. It also summarizes the last three laws that have extended these
expiring provisions: P.L. 112-240, P.L. 112-96, and P.L. 112-78.
Among other provisions, H.R. 2821, the American Jobs Act of 2013, would extend these
temporary unemployment insurance provisions for two additional years (i.e., through December
2015).
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Temporary Unemployment Insurance Provisions
Contents
Expiration of Federal Extended Unemployment Insurance Provisions ........................................... 1
Federal Programs to Extend UI Benefits: EB and EUC08 ........................................................ 1
EB Financing ....................................................................................................................... 1
EUC08 ................................................................................................................................. 2
Consequences of UI Expirations ............................................................................................... 2
Financing and Availability of EB Benefits .......................................................................... 2
Availability of EUC08 Benefits .......................................................................................... 4
Previous Legislation to Extend Expiring UI Provisions ............................................................ 4
Legislation to Extend Temporary UI Provisions ....................................................................... 5
Tables
Table 1. States with Temporary EB TUR Trigger Provisions .......................................................... 3
Table 2. States with Temporary EB Three-Year Lookback Provisions ............................................ 3
Contacts
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 5
Congressional Research Service
Temporary Unemployment Insurance Provisions
Expiration of Federal Extended Unemployment
Insurance Provisions
Enacted on January 2, 2013, P.L. 112-240, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, extends the
authorization for several federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws. Despite this extension, these
laws are temporary and scheduled to expire as follows:
• the 100% federal financing of the Extended Benefit (EB) program is scheduled to
end on December 31, 2013; and
• the authorization for the temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation
(EUC08) program ends the week ending on or before January 1, 2014.
In addition, P.L. 111-312, as amended by P.L. 112-240, provides
• temporary authorization for states to use three-year lookbacks with their EB
triggers, which expires the week ending on or before December 31, 2013.
After these federal UI provisions expire, only regular, state-financed Unemployment
Compensation (UC) benefits will generally be available in states. UC pays up to 26 weeks of
benefits in most states with the following exceptions: (1) Montana provides up to 28 weeks of
UC; (2) Massachusetts provides up to 30 weeks of UC; and (3) several states have reduced their
UC maximum durations: Arkansas and Illinois (25 weeks); Michigan, Missouri, and South
Carolina (20 weeks); Florida (variable duration based on state unemployment rate: 12-23 weeks);
Georgia (variable duration based on state unemployment rate: 14-20 weeks); and North Carolina
(variable duration based on state unemployment rate: 12-20 weeks).1
Federal Programs to Extend UI Benefits: EB and EUC082
Basic income support for unemployed workers is provided through the joint federal-state UC
program, which pays up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits with some exceptions.3
EB Financing
Unemployment benefits may be extended at the state level by the permanent EB program if high
unemployment exists within the state. Once regular unemployment benefits are exhausted, the EB
program may provide up to an additional 13 or 20 weeks of benefits, depending on worker
eligibility, state law, and state economic conditions. Under permanent law (P.L. 91-373), the EB
1 For details on reductions in state UC duration, see CRS Report R41859, Unemployment Insurance: Consequences of
Changes in State Unemployment Compensation Laws, by Katelin P. Isaacs.
2 For additional details on all three of these UI programs (UC, EB, and EUC08), see CRS Report RL33362,
Unemployment Insurance: Programs and Benefits, by Julie M. Whittaker and Katelin P. Isaacs.
3 Montana provides 28 weeks and Massachusetts provides 30 weeks of regular unemployment benefits. In addition,
some states have passed laws to reduce the maximum duration of UC benefits: Arkansas and Illinois (25 weeks);
Michigan, Missouri, and South Carolina (20 weeks); Florida (variable duration based on state unemployment rate: 12-
23 weeks); Georgia (variable duration based on state unemployment rate: 14-20 weeks); and North Carolina (variable
duration based on state unemployment rate: 12-20 weeks).
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Temporary Unemployment Insurance Provisions
program is funded 50% by the federal government and 50% by the states. The 2009 stimulus
package (P.L. 111-5, as amended, most recently by P.L. 112-240) temporarily provides for 100%
federal funding of the EB program until December 31, 2013.
EUC08
To supplement UC and EB benefits and respond to the most recent recession, Congress created a
temporary unemployment insurance program, the EUC08 program. The EUC08 program began
in July 2008. EUC08 has been amended by Congress 11 times (most recently by P.L. 112-240).
Currently, the EUC08 program provides up to four tiers of additional weeks of unemployment
benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular UC benefits. See
“Availability of EUC08 Benefits” below for more details on EUC08 benefits.4
The EUC08 program is authorized until the week ending on or before January 1, 2014. There is
no grandfathering of EUC08 benefits after that date. Individuals who have not completed a tier of
EUC08 would not continue to receive those benefits after the week ending on or before January
1, 2014 (i.e., December 28, 2013, in all states except New York State, in which the program ends
December 29, 2013). States are required to pay individuals any entitlement to EUC08 benefits
before any entitlement to EB benefits.
Consequences of UI Expirations
Financing and Availability of EB Benefits
The 100% federal financing of EB benefits is scheduled to end December 31, 2013. In terms of
financing, states will be responsible for 50% of the benefit costs for anyone entering into the EB
program after December 31, 2013. Benefits for individuals who are receiving EB on December
31, 2013, however, will continue to be 100% federally financed through June 30, 2014.
The expiration of the 100% federal financing could potentially have consequences for the
availability of EB benefits in states. Twenty-eight states elected a temporary trigger, based on a
state’s total unemployment rate (TUR), for the EB program—and that election was tied to the
temporary federal 100% EB financing.5 With the expiration of the 100% federal financing
provision, the laws in these states require that the temporary trigger end; at which point, the
federal EB law ends the period during which EB benefits may be paid. Table 1 lists the states that
adopted a temporary EB TUR trigger in this manner and may be affected by this expiration.
4 For additional details on EUC08, including the program’s legislative history, see CRS Report R42444, Emergency
Unemployment Compensation (EUC08): Current Status of Benefits, by Julie M. Whittaker and Katelin P. Isaacs.
5 In addition, 11 states have adopted this optional TUR EB trigger into permanent state law: Alaska, Connecticut,
Kansas, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
For more details on state EB trigger options, see CRS Report R41859, Unemployment Insurance: Consequences of
Changes in State Unemployment Compensation Laws, by Katelin P. Isaacs.
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Temporary Unemployment Insurance Provisions
Table 1. States with Temporary EB TUR Trigger Provisions
Alabama Georgia Massachusetts
Pennsylvania
Arizona Idaho Michigan South
Carolina
California Illinois
Missouri Tennessee
Colorado Indiana
Nevada Texas
Delaware Kentucky New
Mexico
Virginia
District of Columbia
Maine
New York
West Virginia
Florida Maryland
Ohio Wisconsin
Source: U.S. Department of Labor.
In addition to the temporary EB triggers themselves, P.L. 111-312 (as amended by P.L. 112-240)
made technical changes to certain triggers in the EB program. P.L. 111-312, as amended, allows
states to temporarily use lookback calculations based on three years of unemployment rate data
(rather than the current lookback of two years of data) as part of their triggers if states would
otherwise trigger off or not be on a period of EB benefits. Using a two-year versus a three-year
EB trigger lookback is an important adjustment because some states are likely to trigger off their
EB periods in the near future despite high, sustained—but not increasing—unemployment rates.
For states to implement EB trigger lookback changes, each state would need to individually opt to
amend its state UC laws. These state law changes must be written in such a way that if the two-
year lookback has the effect that the state would have an active EB program, no action would be
taken. But if a two-year lookback is not effective as part of an EB trigger and the state is not
triggered on to an EB period, then the state would be able to use a three-year lookback. This
temporary option to use three-year EB trigger lookbacks expires the week ending on or before
December 31, 2013.
As of the week of August 4, 2013, there are 31 states that have enacted a three-year EB trigger
lookback option (as temporarily authorized). Table 2 lists these states.
Table 2. States with Temporary EB Three-Year Lookback Provisions
Alabama Kansas North
Carolina
California Kentucky Ohio
Colorado Maine
Oregon
Connecticut Maryland
Rhode
Island
Delaware Massachusetts
South
Carolina
District of Columbia
Michigan
Tennessee
Florida Minnesota
Texas
Georgia Missouri West
Virginia
Idaho Nevada
Wisconsin
Illinois New
Jersey
Indiana New
York
Source: U.S. Department of Labor.
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Temporary Unemployment Insurance Provisions
Since the federal authorization of these temporary EB provision, with few exceptions, only states
that have enacted the TUR EB trigger option (in either permanent or temporary law) and the
temporary three-year lookback currently have had an active EB program paying benefits. As of
the week of August 4, 2013, however, no state meets the EB trigger criteria using the TUR trigger
and three-year lookback to be able to pay EB benefits.6 Future increases in state unemployment
rates and/or a reversal of the current trend of decreasing unemployment rates would be required
in order to trigger on EB based on the TUR trigger and lookback requirement. When either of a
state’s temporary EB trigger components—the TUR trigger or the three-year lookback—expires,
as currently scheduled, any state taking advantage of the TUR trigger and three-year lookback
options to be able to pay EB benefits would be at risk of ending its EB period.
EB benefits are not grandfathered. Therefore, there will be no active EB program or payments
after an EB period has ended in these states.
The U.S. Department of Labor posts weekly “Trigger Notices” for the EB (and EUC08 program)
online at http://www.workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims_arch.asp.
Availability of EUC08 Benefits
All tiers of EUC08 benefits are temporary and expire the week ending on or before January 1,
2014. There is no grandfathering of EUC08 benefits after that date. Therefore, individuals would
not continue to receive EUC08 benefits after December 28, 2013, in all states except New York
State, in which the program ends December 29, 2013.
P.L. 112-96 altered the duration or the state availability of each tier of the EUC08 program during
three separate periods: March-May 2012, June-August 2012, and September-December 2012.7
P.L. 112-240 extends EUC08 authorization with the tier structure in place as of December 2012,
through the week ending on or before January 1, 2014:
• Tier I: available in all states, up to 14 weeks.
• Tier II: available in states with a TUR of at least 6%, up to 14 weeks.
• Tier III: available in states with a TUR of at least 7%, up to 9 weeks.
• Tier IV: available in states with a TUR of at least 9%, up to 10 weeks.
Previous Legislation to Extend Expiring UI Provisions
P.L. 112-240, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, was signed into law on January 2, 2013.
P.L. 112-240 extends the authorization of the EUC08 program (as structured in December 2012)
until the week ending on or before January 1, 2014. P.L. 112-240 also authorizes the 100%
6 See U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Extended Benefit Trigger Notice No.
2013-29, Effective August 4, 2013, available online at http://www.workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/trigger/
2013/trig_080413.html.
7 For more details on the legislative history of EUC08, including changes to benefit structure over time, see CRS
Report R42444, Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08): Current Status of Benefits, by Julie M. Whittaker
and Katelin P. Isaacs.
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Temporary Unemployment Insurance Provisions
federal financing of the EB program and the temporary option for states to use three-year
lookbacks with their EB triggers until December 31, 2013.
P.L. 112-96, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, was signed into law on
February 22, 2012. P.L. 112-96 extended the expiring UI provisions by maintaining the temporary
EB financing and lookback provisions through December 31, 2012. P.L. 112-96 also extended the
authorization for the EUC08 until the week ending on or before January 2, 2013, as well as made
changes to the structure of the EUC08 program that were phased in over calendar year 2012.
P.L. 112-78, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, was signed into law on
December 23, 2011. P.L. 112-78 extended the expiring UI laws for two months. Under P.L. 112-
78, the authorization for the EUC08 program was extended until the week ending on or before
March 6, 2012; the 100% federal financing of the EB program was extended until March 7, 2012;
and the three-year lookback trigger option for the EB program expired the week ending on or
before February 29, 2012.
Legislation to Extend Temporary UI Provisions
On July 24, 2013, the American Jobs Act of 2013 (H.R. 2821) was introduced in the House.
Among other provisions H.R. 2821 would extend the authorization of the EUC08 program for
two years until the week ending on or before January 1, 2016 (i.e., December 26, 2015, in all
states except New York State, in which the program would end December 27, 2015). H.R. 2821
would also extend the 100% federal financing of EB and the three-year lookback EB trigger
option for two years until December 31, 2015.
Author Contact Information
Katelin P. Isaacs
Analyst in Income Security
kisaacs@crs.loc.gov, 7-7355
Congressional Research Service
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