Fiscal year 2009 state unemployment administration allocations

UIPL24-09acc.pdf (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/2009/UIPL24-09acc.pdf)

      EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION               CLASSIFICATION
                  ADVISORY SYSTEM                          Unemployment Insurance
            U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR                      CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
                Washington, D.C. 20210
                                                           OWS
                                                           DATE
                                                           May 19, 2009

ADVISORY:          UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 24-09

TO:                STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

FROM:              DOUGLAS F. SMALL /s/
                   Deputy Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:           Guidelines for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 State Agency Unemployment Insurance
                   (UI) Resource Allocations, Supplemental Budget Requests (SBRs), and
                   Above-Base Funding

1. Purpose. To provide the following information for FY 2009 UI State Administration base
   resource allocations, general guidelines for resource planning, above-base funding, and SBRs.

2. References. ET Handbook No. 336, 18th Edition, Unemployment Insurance State Quality
   Service Plan (SQSP), Planning and Reporting Guidelines; Unemployment Insurance Program
   Letter (UIPL) No. 21-08, Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 State Workforce Agency Unemployment
   Insurance Resource Planning Targets and Guidelines; and UIPL No. 19-08, Call Memo for
   the Fiscal Year 2009 Unemployment Insurance State Quality Service Plan (SQSP).

3. Appropriation. The FY 2009 omnibus spending bill that included the appropriations for State
   UI operations (Public Law 111-8) was enacted on March 11, 2009. The table below shows
   the average weekly insured unemployment (AWIU) levels and the dollar amounts of the
   President’s Budget request and the appropriation, and the difference between the two. The
   appropriation exceeded the amount requested in the President’s Budget in order to offset the
   increase in the AWIU trigger from the level which the President’s Budget request was based.
   This additional funding ensures that the appropriated funds will cover the administrative costs
   up to the level at which contingency funds can be provided.

                                   Budget Request           Appropriation           Difference
AWIU Contingency                       2,790,000               3,487,000             +697,000
Trigger
State Administration                $2,583,145,000        $2,782,145,000        +$199,000,000
REAs                                   $40,000,000           $40,000,000                   $0
National Activities                    $12,893,000           $11,310,000          -$1,583,000
Total                                $2,636,038000        $2,833,455,000        +$197,417,000

   RESCISSIONS                                           EXPIRATION DATE
None                                                     May 19, 2010



4. Final Base Allocations. The final FY 2009 base allocations are identical to the planning
   targets.

5. Above-Base Administration.

  a. Above-Base and Contingency Reserve. One hundred percent reimbursement for above-
      base administrative expenses is provided under the FY 2009 appropriation. The
      appropriation provides sufficient funding to support the administrative costs associated
      with an AWIU level of $3.487 million. In addition, $28.6 million will be made available
      for each increment of 100,000 (including a pro rata amount for any increment less than
      100,000) in the AWIU above the $3.487 million level. Under current economic
      assumptions, the FY 2009 AWIU is projected to be $5.209 million, which would result in
      an additional $492,492,000 being apportioned as contingency reserve funds.

   b. Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC). EUC administrative costs will continue
      to be based on quarterly EUC workloads and funded through the UI-3 process.

   c. Federal Additional Compensation (FAC). Ongoing FAC administrative costs will be
      funded through the UI-3 process. Such costs should be reported on line 26 of the UI-3
      report and specifically identified in the comments section of the report.

   d. Support. The above-base overhead remains at 19 percent. Overhead for Trade
      Adjustment Assistance (TAA) administration is also 19 percent.

   e. Postage. Above-base funding for postage will be issued to states on a quarterly basis using
      the above base weeks claimed reported on the UI-3 reports. For any quarter, above-base
      weeks claimed will be those in excess of 25 percent of the FY 2009 base weeks claimed
      issued in the planning targets. The above-base postage will be paid at 24.7 cents per
      above base week claimed.

   f. Trade Redeterminations. Currently, there are no court decisions regarding the TAA
      program that would require the states to make monetary redeterminations. If one occurs,
      states should follow the UI-3 reporting instructions in ET Handbook No. 336, 18th Edition.

6. Supplemental Budget Requests (SBRs). The SQSP Handbook contains SBR instructions and
   procedures that remain in place each year unless states are instructed otherwise. States may
   submit a Standard Form (SF) 424 and SF 424A for additional funds for certain types of
   administrative costs (listed below) that are not funded within the states' base and above-base
   grants.

   a. Special Projects. Proposals from states for reemployment and eligibility assessments
      grants have been solicited. In addition, states will have the opportunity to apply for funds
      for other purposes that improve integrity and efficiency. Specific instructions will be
      provided to states in separate advisories.



   b. UI Performs Travel. Travel dollars are available for Benefit Accuracy Measurement Peer
      Reviews, Benefits Timeliness and Quality Nonmonetary Determinations Tripartite
      Reviews, Appeals Reviews, and Tax Performance System Integrity Reviews. States
      should provide travel estimates and reimbursement requests to the Regional Office rather
      than submitting an SF 424 for these travel dollars.

7. State Flexibility. States have full authority to shift UI resources among program categories as
   deemed appropriate and necessary to manage and operate their UI programs to meet
   established goals and requirements. The only caveat is that states must use the annual
   allocated staff year level for claims activities for above-base reporting purposes. This ensures
   that states do not earn more above-base resources than they otherwise would have been
   entitled to earn.

8. Action Requested. State Administrators are requested to provide copies of this information to
   the appropriate staff.

9. Inquiries. Questions should be addressed to the appropriate Regional Office.