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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
91_HR0699enr HR0699 Enrolled LRB9113533STsbB 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION 699 2 WHEREAS, The Unemployment Insurance Act was first passed 3 in 1937 and has been amended from time to time thereafter; 4 and 5 WHEREAS, The State public policy underlying the 6 Unemployment Insurance Act is ". . . to lessen the menace to 7 the health, safety and morals of the people of Illinois, and 8 to encourage stabilization of employment", thus making 9 necessary "compulsory unemployment insurance upon a statewide 10 scale providing for the setting aside of reserves during 11 periods of employment to be used to pay benefits during 12 periods of unemployment"; and 13 WHEREAS, There have been rapid changes in the Illinois 14 workforce in recent years, including: between 1970 and 1990, 15 twice as many women entered the workforce as did men; between 16 1969 and 1998 the percentage of women in the workforce with a 17 child under age 3 increased from 23% to 63%; many 18 newly-created jobs are low-paying and unstable service sector 19 jobs; many other newly-created jobs are seasonal or 20 temporary; and over 300,000 former recipients of welfare have 21 been added to the ranks of the workforce; and 22 WHEREAS, During recent years fewer than 40% of unemployed 23 workers, as counted by the Illinois Department of Employment 24 Security, received unemployment insurance benefits in 25 Illinois at any given time; fewer than 30% of unemployed 26 women received unemployment insurance benefits at any given 27 time; and, according to at least one study, only 11% of the 28 women who had received welfare in the previous 24 months 29 received any unemployment insurance upon losing a job; and 30 WHEREAS, There is a need to determine whether the 31 unemployment insurance program as currently structured is 32 serving the public policy goals it is designed to meet, given HR0699 Enrolled -2- LRB9113533STsbB 1 the current workforce and economy in Illinois, particularly 2 with respect to female workers, new workers, seasonal 3 workers, workers who are parents or who have other pressing 4 family or medical issues that prevent them from working, and 5 workers who are new parents on leave under the federal Family 6 and Medical Leave Act; and 7 WHEREAS, The ability of the unemployment insurance 8 program to provide benefits to workers depends on the 9 solvency of the unemployment trust fund, and that fund's 10 current solvency is due not only to taxes on employers but 11 also to benefit cuts absorbed by workers during the 1980's 12 specifically for the purpose of improving the solvency of the 13 fund; and 14 WHEREAS, The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is funded 15 by taxes paid by employers; and 16 WHEREAS, The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund ended with 17 a balance of over $2 billion at the end of 1999; and 18 WHEREAS, Benefits to unemployed workers could be paid for 19 nearly 20 months without a single tax dollar being paid into 20 the Trust Fund; and 21 WHEREAS, Sound public policy calls for a Trust Fund of 22 adequate size to pay benefits for unemployed workers without 23 unnecessarily draining away resources from employers that 24 could be better utilized in the Illinois economy; therefore 25 be it 26 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 27 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 28 there be created a subcommittee on unemployment insurance of 29 the House Committee on Labor and Commerce; and be it further 30 RESOLVED, That the subcommittee be directed to conduct 31 hearings throughout the State during the year 2000, HR0699 Enrolled -3- LRB9113533STsbB 1 accumulate data and information important to employees and 2 employers regarding unemployment insurance, and develop 3 recommendations to be submitted to the full House Labor and 4 Commerce Committee, the Speaker of the House, and the 5 Minority Leader of the House by December 1, 2000.