Greater Louisville Inc.: Unemployment Insurance Reform Bill Filed

Press release from Greater Louisville, Inc.:

2022-02-07

Last week, House Bill 4 was filed to enact reforms to Kentucky’s current unemployment insurance benefit program. Filed by Representative Russell Webber, a 2021 GLI MVP, the bill aims to modernize several key parts of the current benefit program to both support laid-off workers and encourage rapid re-employment.

The proposed reforms stemmed from the work of the General Assembly’s Unemployment Insurance Reform Task Force which examined Kentucky’s current system during the 2021 Interim Session. Kentucky’s workforce participation rate has historically been one of the country’s lowest with only 56.8% of adults employed or actively seeking employment.

The proposed reforms in HB 4 are designed to provide unemployed workers with the help they need while also providing them to tools to quickly find the next step in their career.

Key parts of the bill include:

GLI strongly supports these reforms and recognizes the need to keep unemployed workers engaged and re-employed. Follow GLI’s Policy Distilled for updates as this bill progresses.

This press release was produced by Greater Louisville, Inc.. The views expressed here are the author’s own.