An Act concerning unemployment compensation and supplementing chapter 21 of Title 43 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
C.43:21-11.6 Report to Legislature, public, unemployment compensation benefit claims, appeals, processing.
1. The commissioner shall, not later than December 31, 2023 and each subsequent year, issue, provide to the Legislature, and make available to the public in a prominent location on the department's website, a report regarding the department’s performance in providing timely and accurate processing of, and adjudicating appeals concerning, unemployment compensation benefit claims. The report shall include:
a. (1) The number of personnel in the department employed in the administration of the unemployment insurance system and the budgeted cost of salaries and benefits for those personnel;
(2) The number of personnel who are processing unemployment benefit claims, the number engaged in other functions of the system, and the budgeted cost of salaries and benefits for those personnel;
(3) What percentage of total division administrative costs is comprised of those categories of personnel costs;
b. Information regarding the appropriations for the system during the fiscal year in which the report is made and the preceding fiscal year, including:
(1) For both fiscal years, the amount appropriated in federal funds, the budget authority, the budget reserve, the amount expended, and the amount of each year’s appropriation not expended;
(2) The anticipated expenditures for the remainder of the fiscal year in which the report is made; and
(3) The total unexpended moneys remaining from any previous appropriation; and
c. If an acceptable level of performance was not attained during the year, the level of performance was substantially below the national average, or it is determined that there are other significant problems in the administration of the system, the report shall provide an evaluation of the causes of the deficiencies and a plan to correct them. That plan shall include:
(1) Any increase in personnel needed to process claims and appeals of claims and make benefit payments expeditiously and accurately;
(2) Any measures needed to enforce notification and reporting requirements;
(3) Any measures needed to inform employers and employees of their responsibilities to facilitate the timely provision of benefits;
(4) Any improvements needed in data processing, telephone and other communications technology, staff training, and other administrative services and equipment;
(5) Any measures needed to improve service to claimants and beneficiaries, including implementing easy-to-use, user-friendly application processes, facilitating rapid response times to inquiries and applications, and providing easy access to personal assistance as needed; and
(6) Any other measures appropriate for a full modernization of the administration of all aspects of the unemployment insurance system.
The plan shall include all of the provisions of any applicable corrective action plan which is included in an Unemployment Insurance State Quality Service Plan approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. The plan shall, as needed, also provide for measures, in addition to those provided in those corrective action plans, to attain more rapid improvements in performance and provide for greater commitments of resources to attain its goals than the federal plan, including expenditures of funds held in reserve and other unexpended funds, and funding from non-federal sources, including the Unemployment Compensation Auxiliary Fund. The commissioner shall include any proposals of the report for greater commitments of resources in the commissioner’s budget requests for the fiscal year following the issuing of the report.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Approved May 8, 2023.