The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is concerned that the State Senate’s recently approved package of reforms to the commonwealth’s unemployment compensation (UC) system will delay the updated benefit formula set for 2026, which was designed to make benefits fairer and ease long-term pressure on the UC Trust Fund.
“As discussions continue, we urge lawmakers to focus on the system’s financial stability, which remains below federal solvency benchmarks even as Pennsylvania employers pay among the highest UC taxes in the country,” said PA Chamber Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Alex Halper.
The Senate on Dec. 9 amended and voted 42-5 to pass the bipartisan Protecting Domestic Violence Survivors by Providing Unemployment Benefits, House Bill (HB) 274, which PA Rep. Jason Dawkins (D-179) sponsored alongside 26 cosponsors, including PA Rep. Seth Grove (R-196).
The bill now heads to the governor’s desk where Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to sign it into law.
Once enacted, HB 274 aims to make it easier for domestic violence survivors to receive benefits if they are forced to quit working in situations where continued employment would jeopardize their safety.
Under the current UC Law, an individual who quits employment has the burden to prove eligibility under a two-point test: the reasons for quitting must be “necessitous and compelling,” and the claimant must have made reasonable efforts to maintain the employment relationship.
Under case law and current UC practice, an individual who must leave work as the result of a domestic violence situation can be eligible for benefits but must wait until the separation from employment is adjudicated, an adjudication process that Dawkins said can take weeks or months during a critical and sensitive time in someone’s life.
Dawkins said the bill would create an “express lane” for claimants impacted by domestic violence and allow a domestic violence survivor to confidentially submit reasonable evidence of recent domestic violence.
A survivor would not be required to submit a copy of a protective order or police report, although they could choose to do so. When the documentation is received, the UC claim determination will be expedited to significantly reduce the burden on survivors of domestic violence who may be in danger if they continue their employment, according to a memo on the bill.
In addition to the chamber’s concerns, Halper said HB 274 does take “several important steps to improve the unemployment compensation system.”
For instance, H.B. 274 includes several other provisions the PA Chamber supports, such as strengthening requirements for individuals who were recently deemed ineligible to show a clear tie to the workforce before reapplying for benefits; correcting a technical error that would have expanded eligibility and increased system costs; and adding new situations where employers are automatically granted relief from charges, helping them avoid UC tax hikes.
“We appreciate the work of Senate Republicans, and especially Labor and Industry Committee Chair Devlin Robinson, to move this bipartisan unemployment compensation legislation that includes several PA Chamber priorities to improve how the system is run,” said Halper.
HB 274 also incorporates legislation introduced by PA Sen. Michelle Brooks (R-50) to address “ghosting,” in which claimants skip interviews or ignore job offers to keep receiving benefits.
The chamber said employers have raised concerns about this for years, and the bill confirms that claimants who discourage their own employment are not eligible.