This bill amends Alaska's unemployment compensation laws to improve the efficiency and fairness of benefit payments. Key provisions include a requirement that the Department of Labor cannot delay approved benefit payments due to holidays and must incur a 10% penalty for each day a payment is late. Additionally, if a claimant's disqualification is overturned on appeal, benefits must be paid within 24 hours, with the same penalty for late payments. The bill also introduces a contingency plan for call center overloads, ensuring that workers are not disqualified for failing to provide information if call volumes exceed capacity. Other amendments adjust weekly benefit amounts based on inflation, increase the dependent allowance from $24 to $35 per week, and raise the maximum total allowance from $72 to $105.

Moreover, the bill clarifies that individuals in federally approved training programs cannot be denied unemployment benefits for not being available for work or seeking work while attending training. It removes references to "waiting-week credit" in relation to these benefits, indicating a change in processing unemployment claims for those in training. The definition of "establishment" is modified to treat separate departments within the same premises as distinct, and the definition of "claimant" is updated to exclude waiting-week credit certification. The bill also repeals certain sections of the law and establishes an effective date of July 1, 2025, for these changes.

Statutes affected:
HB0192A, AM HB 192, introduced 04/14/2025: 23.20.340, 23.20.360, 23.20.362, 23.20.375, 23.20.378, 23.20.387, 23.20.505, 23.20.350, 23.20.135, 23.20.379, 23.20.382, 23.20.383, 23.20.520