Reimbursing combined wage claims through Treasury's unemployment trust fund system

Official advisory text (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/unemployment-insurance-program-letter-no-27-98):

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER No. 27-98
Issue date: May 6, 1998
Expiration date: May 31, 1999
To: All State Employment Security Agencies
From: Grace A. Kilbane, Director, Unemployment Insurance Service

Subject: Reimbursement of Combined Wage Claim (CWC) Quarterly Charges through the U.S. Treasury Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) On-Line accounting System

Purpose: To provide State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) information on the use of the Treasury UTF On-Line system to complete CWC reimbursement transactions, and to forward interim instructions for reporting those transactions on the ETA 2112.

References: ETA Handbook NO. 401, 2nd edition; UTF On-Line Accounting System User Guide.

Background: The Department of Treasury implemented the UTF On-Line Accounting System in October 1996. This system replaced the State Unemployment Data System. In addition to providing States with on-line access for drawdowns (State and Federal funds), the UTF system provides for on-line Title XII loan repayments and book adjustments between accounts. The system also provides States with on-line access to information on: deposits to and withdrawals from the UTF, by date and amount; UTF trial balance; detailed General Ledger; account balances; Title XII summary; and Reed Act transactions. The Funds Accounting Branch of Treasury's Bureau of Public Debt has recently expanded the UTF on-line system's capabilities to allow States to make CWC quarterly reimbursements through fund transfers between States' accounts. The use of this feature eliminates the administrative burden associated with the use of checks or electronic fund transfers between banks, and the loss of interest income to the UTF. Instructions from the National Office for reporting CWC reimbursements have been delayed because reporting the amount of disbursements handled through the use of this method of reimbursement requires activation of a data cell for electronic reporting on the ETA 2112. The data cell was inactivated when implementing existing electronic reporting for the ETA 2112 to prevent improper entries; the programming necessary to activate this cell is being delayed by other programming priorities, i.e., Year 2000 activities. However, since most States are now using the new feature for CWC reimbursements, interim instructions are needed for reporting on the ETA 2112. A change to the ET Handbook with the revised instructions will be issued separately.

Reporting Instructions: States are to report the amount of CWC benefit payment reimbursements received from other States (deposited directly to the reimbursed State's account in the UTF) on line 16E of the ETA 2112 ("Deposits --- from other States --- interstate benefits"). States using the UTF fund transfer feature to transfer funds directly to other States' accounts to reimburse CWC charges are to enter the amount of such transfers on line 45E (Disbursements --- Other) and provide a brief explanation in the "Comments" section. If the amount reported on line 45E includes more than one type of disbursement, the "Comments" section should distinguish each type of disbursement and the related dollar amount.

Action Required: Each SESA administrator is requested to reimburse CWC charges from other States using fund transfers through the Treasury UTF Accounting System and report all debits and credits resulting from use of the UTF system on the ETA 2112, in accordance with instructions in Section 4 above.