Missouri – A new bill (HB 288) proposes that unemployment benefits be cut based on the state’s unemployment rate. If passed, the unemployment eligibility period will drop one week for every half percent change in the unemployment rate. If the unemployment rate is 9 percent or higher, the eligibility period remains 20 weeks, but if the rate falls below 6 percent the eligibility period plunges to 13 weeks.
This bill also seeks to consider severance and termination payouts as wages thereby delaying when a claimant is eligible to start receiving unemployment benefits.
The restrictions proposed in this bill have been projected to save the state’s Unemployment Trust Fund up to $6.5 million. The bill is currently making its way through the legislature.