The unemployment benefit changes we discussed earlier are one step closer to becoming a reality for unemployed Floridians. Last week, the Florida House passed a HB 7005 with a vote of 81-39 despite continuously high unemployment rates across the state.
This bill, intended to give tax cuts to businesses, will be funded by cutting benefits to the unemployed (to as little as 12 weeks of eligibility) and will make it even harder to obtain benefits in the first place.
Read more about this bill here.
Proposed Changes to Florida’s Unemployment Laws
Senate Bill 728 proposes to make changes to Florida’s unemployment laws, making it tougher to receive unemployment benefits. The proposed changes include:
- Requiring those newly receiving unemployment benefits complete a skills assessment.
- Reducing the time one can continue receiving benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks.
- Requiring those receiving benefits to take jobs that pay at least 80% of their previous salary during the first 12 weeks and any job paying at least the amount of their unemployment benefits during the final 8 weeks.
- Changing the rule that the law be liberally construed in favor of the claimant so that it would not be construed in favor of either the claimant or the employer.
- Lowering the standard for misconduct, making it harder for terminated employees to collect unemployment benefits.
- Preventing those who have received severance benefits from collecting unemployment.
This comes at a time when Florida’s unemployment rate is 12%. You can read the full text of the bill here.
Proposed “Florida Wage Protection Law” Designed to Preempt Local Ordinances
A proposal for a new law protecting wage theft was introduced by State Rep. Tom Goodson (R-Titusville) appears to be aimed directly at preempting the Miami-Dade county ordinance which protects employees from wage theft. According to the Florida Independent, the very organization challenging the constitutionality of the Miami-Dade ordinance, the Florida Retail Federation, helped draft the proposed statewide legislation.
You can read the proposed legislation here.