SENATE BILL NO. 171

February 24, 2021, Introduced by Senators HOLLIER, ANANICH, BRINKS, GEISS, IRWIN, WOJNO, SANTANA, CHANG, POLEHANKI, MCCANN, BAYER, ALEXANDER, MOSS and HERTEL and referred to the Committee on Economic and Small Business Development.

A bill to amend 1936 (Ex Sess) PA 1, entitled

"Michigan employment security act,"

by amending section 46 (MCL 421.46), as amended by 2012 PA 218.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 46. (a) Subject to subsections (d) through (f), for benefit years beginning before October 1, 2000, "benefit year" means the period of 52 consecutive calendar weeks beginning the first calendar week in which an individual files a claim in accordance with section 32 and meets all of the following conditions:

(1) The individual has earned 20 credit weeks in the 52 consecutive calendar weeks before the week he or she files the claim for benefits.

(2) The individual is unemployed and meets all requirements of section 28 for the week for which he or she files a claim for benefits.

(3) Except for a disqualification under section 29 (8) involving a labor dispute during the individual's most recent period of employment with the most recent employer with whom the individual earned a credit week, the individual is not disqualified or subject to disqualification for the week for which he or she files a claim.

(4) The individual does not have a benefit year already in effect at the time of the claim.

(b) For benefit years beginning on or after October 1, 2000, "benefit year" means the period of 52 consecutive calendar weeks beginning the first calendar week in which an individual files a claim in accordance with section 32. However, a benefit year shall not be established unless the individual meets either of the following conditions:

(1) The total wages paid to the individual in the base period of the claim equals not less than 1.5 times the wages paid to the individual in the calendar quarter of the base period in which the individual was paid the highest wages.

(2) The individual was paid wages in 2 or more calendar quarters of the base period totaling at least 20 times the state average weekly wage as determined by the unemployment agency.

(c) For benefit years beginning after October 1, 2000, the state average weekly wage for a calendar year shall be computed on the basis of the 12 months ending the June 30 preceding that calendar year. A For benefit years beginning before January 1, 2021, a benefit year shall not be established if the individual was not paid wages of at least the state minimum hourly wage multiplied by 388.06 rounded down to the nearest dollar in at least 1 calendar quarter of the base period. For benefit years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, a benefit year shall not be established if the individual was not paid wages of at least the state minimum hourly wage multiplied by 128 rounded down to the nearest dollar in at least 1 calendar quarter of the base period. A benefit year shall not be established based on base period wages previously used to establish a benefit year that resulted in the payment of benefits. However, if a calendar quarter of the base period contains wages that were previously used to establish a benefit year that resulted in the payment of benefits, a claimant may establish a benefit year using the wages in the remaining calendar quarters from among the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters, or if a benefit year cannot be established using those quarters, then by using wages from among the last 4 completed calendar quarters. A benefit year shall not be established unless, after the beginning of the immediately preceding benefit year during which the individual received benefits, the individual worked and received remuneration in an amount equal to at least 5 times the individual's most recent state weekly benefit rate in effect during the individual's immediately preceding benefit year. If a quarterly wage report has not been submitted in a timely manner by the employer as provided in section 13 for any of the quarters of the base period, or if wage information is not available for use by the unemployment agency for the most recent completed calendar quarter, the unemployment agency shall obtain and use the claimant's statement of wages paid during the calendar quarters for which the wage reports are missing to establish a benefit year. However, the claimant's statement of wages shall only be used to establish a benefit year if the claimant also provides to the unemployment agency documentary or other evidence of those wages that is satisfactory to the unemployment agency. A determination based on the claimant's statement of wages paid during any of these calendar quarters shall be redetermined if the quarterly wage report from the employer is later received and would result in a change in the claimant's weekly benefit amount or duration, or both, or if the quarterly wage report from the employer later becomes available for use by the unemployment agency and would result in a change in the claimant's benefit amount or duration, or both. If the redetermination results from the employer's failure to submit the quarterly wage report in a timely manner, the redetermination shall be effective as to benefits payable for weeks beginning after the receipt of information not previously submitted by the employer.

(d) If an individual files a claim for a 7-day period under section 27(c), his or her benefit year begins the calendar week containing the first day of that 7-day period.

(e) If all or part of a claimant's right to benefits during his or her benefit year is canceled under section 62(b), the benefit year is terminated on the effective date of the cancellation.

(f) An individual may request a redetermination of his or her benefit rights and cancellation of a previously established benefit year if he or she has not completed a compensable period. Under circumstances described in this subsection, the benefit year begins the first day of the first week in which the request for redetermination of benefit rights is duly filed.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act is retroactive and applies to benefit years beginning on or after January 1, 2021.