Ohio House Bill 394: What You Need to Know

November 25, 2015 / Social Security

H.B. 394 is legislation sponsored by Representative Barbara Sears that is currently being considered by the Ohio House Insurance Committee. The bill would make significant changes to Ohio’s unemployment compensation program. If passed this bill would:

• No longer allow individuals on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) to receive unemployment compensation;
• Reduce the amount of unemployment compensation that can be received for individuals on Social Security retirement;
• Reduce the maximum number of weeks a person may receive unemployment compensation from 26 weeks to 12-20 weeks;
• Eliminate dependency classes, which allow people with dependents to receive higher payments;
• Require that workers work longer in order to be eligible to receive unemployment;
• Allow an individual to be disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation if they have violated any policy in an employee handbook;
• Change the amounts employers have to pay into the unemployment compensation program depending on the total level of funding available. When the fund has less money, employers will have to pay more; when the fund has more money, employers do not have to pay as much.

The Ohio House Insurance Committee plans to review and discuss H.B. 394 next Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 017 of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.

If you would like more information about this bill, please visit the Ohio General Assembly website. If you would like to share your opinion with your representative you can use this website to find his or her contact information or call 1-800-282-0253 Monday - Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.