Reporting postage and other special unemployment administrative costs

UIPL2-08acc.pdf (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/2007/UIPL2-08acc.pdf)

                                                           CLASSIFICATION
      EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION                   UI
                 ADVISORY SYSTEM
                                                           CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
            U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
                                                               OWS/DFAS
               Washington, D.C. 20210
                                                           DATE
                                                               December 28, 2007


ADVISORY:          UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER 2-08

TO:                STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

FROM:              EMILY STOVER DeROCCO /s/
                   Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:           Reporting Postage, Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA), and Systematic
                   Alien Verification Entitlement (SAVE) Administrative Expenditures through
                   the Resource Justification Model (RJM)

1. Purpose. To provide guidance to state workforce agencies (SWAs) on reporting of postage,
   TRA, and SAVE administrative expenditures on the RJM.

2. References. ET Handbook No. 410, 4th Edition, November 2007.

3. Background. The RJM is a data collection instrument for total Unemployment Insurance
   (UI) administrative expenditures for the most recently completed fiscal year (FY). Those
   expenditures are extrapolated to project base resources SWAs would require in subsequent
   years. The total expenditures are broken out by functional activities and separated further into
   “Allowable RJM” expenditures and “Non-RJM” expenditures. Non-RJM expenditures are
   those which were granted for specific purposes including TRA and SAVE administration and
   postage. Non-RJM expenditures are subtracted from the total UI expenditures in order to
   prevent expenditures for purposes unrelated to base UI grant activities from impacting factors
   used to estimate such information. Due to the distinction between Allowable RJM and Non-
   RJM expenditures, it is imperative that all states report uniformly.

4. Reporting Actual Versus Allocated Expenses. The RJM handbook instructs states to report
   expenditures for postage, TRA administration, and SAVE administration as Non-RJM costs.
   However, SWAs may legitimately spend more or less than was distributed for these purposes.
   If a state spends more than was allocated, the additional funds would reduce expenditures for
   other activities, which would likely reduce the RJM factors used for future budget allocations.
   Conversely, if a state spends less on Non-RJM purposes than was allocated, the savings may
   be spent in other areas which would likely increase RJM factors for those activities that are
   used for future budget allocations. Therefore, uniform reporting is necessary for equitable
   treatment of all SWAs.

        Postage. Effective October 1, 2007, all SWAs are responsible for managing their own
        postage operations. A specific postage allocation is made to each state based on a
        specified formula which is workload driven. For RJM purposes, the total amount of

 RESCISSIONS                                              EXPIRATION DATE
 None                                                     December 28, 2008

                                            - 2 -

       postage funds issued to the SWA should be reported as Non-RJM expenditures. States
       must identify as Non-RJM expenditures the total amount of postage allocated to the SWA
       in the prior fiscal year, whether more or less than that amount was actually expended.

       Trade Administration: Except for “Personal Service” & “Personnel Benefits” costs for the
       Trade Coordinator, states should report as Non-RJM the total amount of TRA
       administration expenditures, up to the amount allocated to the SWA in the previous fiscal
       year.

       SAVE: States should report as Non-RJM the total amount of SAVE administrative
       expenses, up to the amount allocated to the SWA in the previous fiscal year.

5. Action Required. State Administrators are requested to distribute this advisory to
   appropriate staff.
6. Inquiries. Questions should be directed to the appropriate Regional Office.