Chapter 443 Section 191 - 2024 Florida Statutes

2024 Florida Statutes

Title XXXI LABOR

Chapter 443 REEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

SECTION 191Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund; establishment and control.

443.191 Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund; establishment and control.—

(1) There is established, as a separate trust fund apart from all other public funds of this state, an Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, which shall be administered by the Department of Commerce exclusively for the purposes of this chapter. The fund must consist of:

(a) All contributions and reimbursements collected under this chapter;

(b) Interest earned on any moneys in the fund;

(d) All earnings of these properties or securities;

(e) All money credited to this state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund under 42 U.S.C. s. 1103;

(f) All money collected for penalties imposed pursuant to s. 443.151(6)(a);

(g) Advances on the amount in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund credited to the state under 42 U.S.C. s. 1321, as requested by the Governor or the Governor’s designee; and

(h) All money deposited in this account as a distribution pursuant to s. 212.20(6)(d)6.e.

Except as otherwise provided in s. 443.1313(4), all moneys in the fund must be mingled and undivided.

(2) The Chief Financial Officer is the ex officio treasurer and custodian of the fund and shall administer the fund in accordance with the directions of the Department of Commerce. All payments from the fund must be approved by the department or by an authorized agent. The Chief Financial Officer shall maintain within the fund three separate accounts:

(a) A clearing account;

(b) An Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund account; and

All moneys payable to the fund, including moneys received from the United States as reimbursement for extended benefits paid by the Department of Commerce, must be forwarded to the Chief Financial Officer, who shall immediately deposit them in the clearing account. Refunds payable under s. 443.141 may be paid from the clearing account. After clearance, all other moneys in the clearing account must be immediately deposited with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to the credit of this state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund notwithstanding any state law relating to the deposit, administration, release, or disbursement of moneys in the possession or custody of this state. The benefit account consists of all moneys requisitioned from this state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund. Except as otherwise provided by law, moneys in the clearing and benefit accounts may be deposited by the Chief Financial Officer, under the direction of the Department of Commerce, in any bank or public depository in which general funds of the state are deposited, but a public deposit insurance charge or premium may not be paid out of the fund. If any warrant issued against the clearing account or the benefit account is not presented for payment within 1 year after issuance, the Chief Financial Officer must cancel the warrant and credit without restriction the amount of the warrant to the account upon which it is drawn. When the payee or person entitled to a canceled warrant requests payment of the warrant, the Chief Financial Officer, upon direction of the Department of Commerce, must issue a new warrant, payable from the account against which the canceled warrant was drawn.

(3) Moneys may only be requisitioned from the state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund solely for the payment of benefits and extended benefits and for payment in accordance with rules prescribed by the Department of Commerce, or for the repayment of advances made pursuant to 42 U.S.C. s. 1321, as authorized by the Governor or the Governor’s designee, except that money credited to this state’s account under 42 U.S.C. s. 1103 may only be used exclusively as provided in subsection (5). The Department of Commerce, through the Chief Financial Officer, shall requisition from the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund amounts, not exceeding the amounts credited to this state’s account in the fund, as necessary for the payment of benefits and extended benefits for a reasonable future period. Upon receipt of these amounts, the Chief Financial Officer shall deposit the moneys in the benefit account in the State Treasury and warrants for the payment of benefits and extended benefits shall be drawn upon the order of the Department of Commerce against the account. All warrants for benefits and extended benefits are payable directly to the ultimate beneficiary. Expenditures of these moneys in the benefit account and refunds from the clearing account are not subject to any law requiring specific appropriations or other formal release by state officers of money in their custody. All warrants issued for the payment of benefits and refunds must bear the signature of the Chief Financial Officer. Any balance of moneys requisitioned from this state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund which remains unclaimed or unpaid in the benefit account after the period for which the moneys were requisitioned shall be deducted from estimates for, and may be used for the payment of, benefits and extended benefits during succeeding periods, or, in the discretion of the Department of Commerce, shall be redeposited with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of this state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, as provided in subsection (2).

(4) Subsections (1), (2), and (3), to the extent they relate to the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, apply only while the fund continues to exist and while the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States continues to maintain for this state a separate account of all funds deposited by this state for the payment of benefits, together with this state’s proportionate share of the earnings of the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, from which no other state is permitted to make withdrawals. If the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund ceases to exist, or the separate account is no longer maintained, all moneys, properties, or securities belonging to this state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund must be transferred to the treasurer of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, who must hold, invest, transfer, sell, deposit, and release those moneys, properties, or securities in a manner approved by the Department of Commerce in accordance with this chapter. These moneys must, however, be invested in the following readily marketable classes of securities: bonds or other interest-bearing obligations of the United States or of the state. Further, the investment must at all times be made in a manner that allows all the assets of the fund to always be readily convertible into cash when needed for the payment of benefits. The treasurer may only dispose of securities or other properties belonging to the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund under the direction of the Department of Commerce.

(5) MONEY CREDITED UNDER 42 U.S.C. S. 1103.—

(a) Money credited to this state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States under 42 U.S.C. s. 1103 may not be requisitioned from this state’s account or used except for the payment of benefits and for the payment of expenses incurred for the administration of this chapter. These moneys may be requisitioned under subsection (3) for the payment of benefits. These moneys may also be requisitioned and used for the payment of expenses incurred for the administration of this chapter, but only under a specific appropriation by the Legislature and only if the expenses are incurred and the money is requisitioned after the enactment of an appropriations law that:

1. Specifies the purposes for which the money is appropriated and the amounts appropriated;

2. Limits the period within which the money may be obligated to a period ending not more than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the appropriations law; and

3. Limits the amount that may be obligated during any 12-month period beginning on July 1 and ending on the next June 30 to an amount that does not exceed the amount by which the aggregate of the amounts credited to the state’s account under 42 U.S.C. s. 1103 during the same 12-month period and the 34 preceding 12-month periods exceeds the aggregate of the amounts obligated for administration and paid out for benefits and charged against the amounts credited to the state’s account during those 35 12-month periods.

(b) Amounts credited to this state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund under 42 U.S.C. s. 1103 which are obligated for administration or paid out for benefits shall be charged against equivalent amounts that were first credited and that are not already charged, except that an amount obligated for administration during a 12-month period specified in this section may not be charged against any amount credited during that 12-month period earlier than the 34th 12-month period preceding that period. Any amount credited to the state’s account under 42 U.S.C. s. 1103 which is appropriated for expenses of administration, regardless of whether this amount is withdrawn from the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, shall be excluded from the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund balance for the purposes of s. 443.131(3).

(c) Money appropriated as provided in this section for the payment of expenses of administration may only be requisitioned as needed for the payment of obligations incurred under the appropriation and, upon requisition, must be deposited in the Employment Security Administration Trust Fund from which the payments are made. Money deposited, until expended, remains a part of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund and, if not expended, the money must be returned promptly to the state’s account in the federal Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund.

(6) TRUST FUND SOLE SOURCE FOR BENEFITS.—The Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund is the sole and exclusive source for paying reemployment assistance benefits, and these benefits are due and payable only to the extent that contributions or reimbursements, with increments thereon, actually collected and credited to the fund and not otherwise appropriated or allocated, are available for payment. The state shall administer the fund without any liability on the part of the state beyond the amount of moneys received from the United States Department of Labor or other federal agency.

History.—s. 10, ch. 18402, 1937; s. 6, ch. 19637, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 4151(497); s. 1, ch. 24084, 1947; s. 11, ch. 25035, 1949; s. 6, ch. 29771, 1955; ss. 1, 2, 3, ch. 59-99; s. 2, ch. 61-119; s. 6, ch. 61-132; s. 1, ch. 61-172; ss. 1, 2, ch. 63-276; ss. 1, 2, 3, ch. 65-114; ss. 17, 35, ch. 69-106; ss. 1, 2, 3, ch. 70-265; s. 1, ch. 70-315; ss. 8, 9, ch. 71-225; s. 1, ch. 73-283; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 119, ch. 79-164; ss. 6, 8, 9, ch. 80-95; s. 1, ch. 84-278; s. 12, ch. 85-61; s. 143, ch. 97-103; s. 37, ch. 98-34; s. 3, ch. 98-154; s. 106, ch. 2000-153; s. 44, ch. 2003-36; s. 497, ch. 2003-261; s. 77, ch. 2005-2; s. 3, ch. 2009-99; s. 377, ch. 2011-142; s. 28, ch. 2012-30; s. 49, ch. 2013-39; s. 17, ch. 2021-2; s. 39, ch. 2021-31; s. 133, ch. 2023-173; s. 199, ch. 2024-6.

Note.—Former s. 443.10.