Requires that the average annual wage and average weekly wage of the state of New York, which determine the maximum cap for unemployment insurance benefits, be adjusted for inflation each year.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7802
SPONSOR: Mamdani TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to indexing unemployment
benefits to inflation
PURPOSE:
Indexes unemployment benefits to inflation.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Section 529 of the labor law to require that the aver-
age yearly wage and the average weekly wage, which control the maximum
unemployment benefit rate, be increased yearly by the degree of positive
inflation the previous year.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Maximum unemployment benefits are based on the average yearly and weekly
wages in NYS. However, wages have been lagging behind the rising costs
of living: in the third quarter of 2022, wages increased at only two-
thirds the rate of inflation, according to CNBC. Unemployment benefits,
which are based on workers' quarterly wages, are also lagging behind
inflation, creating an effective cut to benefits every year. Just as it
was common sense to index the minimum wage to match inflation, it is
common sense to index unemployment benefits to match inflation. Addi-
tionally, as inflation increases, unemployment tends to decrease, miti-
gating the fiscal cost of this change.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7802
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 15, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MAMDANI -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to indexing unemployment
benefits to inflation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 529 of the labor law, as added by section 3 of part
2 O of chapter 57 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 529. Average annual wage; average weekly wage. 1. The "average annu-
4 al wage" shall be the average annual wage of the state of New York for
5 the previous calendar year, as determined by the commissioner no later
6 than the thirty-first day of May of each year, increased by the rate of
7 inflation, if greater than zero, as based on the consumer price index
8 for the previous calendar year, as reported by the United States bureau
9 of labor statistics.
10 2. The "average weekly wage" shall be the average weekly wage of the
11 state of New York for the previous calendar year, as determined by the
12 commissioner no later than the thirty-first day of May of each year,
13 increased by the rate of inflation, if greater than zero, as based on
14 the consumer price index for the previous calendar year, as reported by
15 the United States bureau of labor statistics.
16 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
17 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11301-01-3
