The proposed legislation, General Assembly Raised Bill No. 357, seeks to amend the existing unemployment dependency allowance provisions in Section 31-234 of the general statutes. The bill increases the dependency allowance from fifteen to forty-five dollars for each eligible individual's nonworking spouse and for each qualifying child or stepchild under specific age and support conditions. The bill stipulates that the total dependency allowances cannot exceed the total unemployment benefit rate of the individual and are limited to a maximum of five dependents. Additionally, if an individual acquires more dependents during the benefit year, the allowance will be adjusted in the following week. The bill also clarifies that dependency allowances are supplementary to the unemployment benefits and will not be included in the total unemployment benefit rate. Furthermore, it specifies that no dependency allowance will be granted unless an unemployment benefit is also payable for that week. In cases where both spouses are receiving benefits, only one spouse can claim the dependency allowance for the other and for any children or stepchildren. The changes proposed in this bill will take effect on July 1, 2028.

Statutes affected:
Raised Bill: 31-234
LAB Joint Favorable: 31-234
File No. 464: 31-234
APP Joint Favorable: 31-234