House Sub. for SB 27 amends provisions of the Employment Security Law, commonly referred to as unemployment insurance (UI), pertaining to unemployment benefits. Workers who started to file UI claims on or after January 1, 2020, are eligible for a maximum of 26 weeks of benefits. Under previous law, the number of weeks for which a worker could claim benefits was capped at 16 weeks, 20 weeks, or 26 weeks if the Kansas unemployment rate (on a three-month seasonally adjusted average) was less than 4.5 percent, at least 4.5 percent but less than 6.0 percent, or at least 6.0 percent, respectively.
Under continuing law, workers must wait for a week prior to making a claim and receiving UI benefits. The bill grants to workers an additional week’s benefit upon the completion of the third week of unemployment after the waiting week. This amount does not increase the total amount of benefits that a worker may claim.
The bill will sunset on April 1, 2021.