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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to verification of reemployment 2
assistance benefit eligibility; providing a short 3
title; amending s. 443.101, F.S.; making a technical 4
change; revising circumstances under which the 5
Department of Commerce disqualifies claimants from 6
benefits; creating s. 443.1112, F.S.; requiring the 7
department to verify claimants' identities before 8
paying benefits; requiring the department to cross -9
check certain information; providing sources against 10
which such information is cross -checked; prohibiting 11
benefits from being paid for claims that have not been 12
cross-checked; providing an exception; providing 13
duties of the department; requiring the department to 14
maintain a web page and an e -mail address for a 15
specified purpose and to notify employers each year of 16
the web page and e-mail address; providing annual 17
reporting requirements; amending s. 445.011, F.S.; 18
requiring the department's job -matching information 19
system to contain certain elements; providing an 20
effective date. 21
22
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 23
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Promoting Work, 24
Deterring Fraud Act of 2024." 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 4 43.101, Florida 26
Statutes, is amended to read: 27
443.101 Disqualification for benefits. —An individual shall 28
be disqualified for benefits: 29
(2) If the Department of Commerce Economic Opportunity 30
finds that the individual has failed without good cause to app ly 31
for available suitable work, including contacting the required 32
number of prospective employers per week for any week of 33
unemployment claimed in the benefit year in accordance with s. 34
443.091, or failed to appear on three or more occasions for a 35
scheduled job interview, to accept suitable work when offered to 36
him or her, to or return to the individual's customary self -37
employment when directed by the department , or to return to 38
employment when recalled to work by the individual's employer 39
after a temporary layoff, the disqualification continues for the 40
full period of unemployment next ensuing after he or she failed 41
without good cause to apply for available suitable work, accept 42
suitable work, or return to his or her customary self -43
employment, and until the individual has earned income of at 44
least 17 times his or her weekly benefit amount. The department 45
shall by rule adopt criteria to implement this subsection, 46
including for determining the "suitability of work," as used in 47
this section. In developing these rules, the department shall 48
consider the duration of a claimant's unemployment in 49
determining the suitability of work and the suitability of 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
proposed rates of compensation for available work. Further, 51
after an individual has received 25 weeks of benefits i n a 52
single year, suitable work is a job that pays the minimum wage 53
and is 120 percent or more of the weekly benefit amount the 54
individual is drawing. 55
(a) In determining whether or not any work is suitable for 56
an individual, the department shall consider the degree of risk 57
to the individual's health, safety, and morals; the individual's 58
physical fitness, prior training, experience, prior earnings, 59
length of unemployment, and prospects for securing local work in 60
his or her customary occupation; and the dist ance of the 61
available work from his or her residence. 62
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, 63
work is not deemed suitable and benefits may not be denied to 64
any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new 65
work under any of the following conditions: 66
1. The position offered is vacant due directly to a 67
strike, lockout, or other labor dispute. 68
2. The wages, hours, or other conditions of the work 69
offered are substantially less favorable to the individual than 70
those prevailing for similar work in the locality. 71
3. As a condition of being employed, the individual is 72
required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain 73
from joining any bona fide labor organization. 74
(c) If the department finds that an individual was 75
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rejected for offered employment as the direct result of a 76
positive, confirmed drug test required as a condition of 77
employment, the individual is disqualified for refusing to 78
accept an offer of suitable work. 79
Section 3. Section 443.1112, Florida Statutes, is created 80
to read: 81
443.1112 Verification of reemployment assistance benefit 82
eligibility; detection of fraud. — 83
(1) The Department of Commerce must verify the identity of 84
each claimant who applies for reemployment assistance benefits 85
before paying any benefits to that individual. 86
(2) For the initial claim for benefits made by a claimant 87
and as necessary to verify a claimant's eligibility for 88
benefits, the department must cross -check the information 89
contained in the claim with information in the database of the 90
Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE) 91
established by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and 92
Immigration Services. 93
(3) For each week that a claimant makes a claim for 94
benefits, including the initial claim for b enefits, to verify a 95
claimant's eligibility for benefits, the department must cross -96
check the information contained in the claim with all of the 97
following sources or similar sources of information: 98
(a) The National Association of State Workforce Agencies 99
Integrity Data Hub. 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(b) The United States Department of Health and Human 101
Services National Directory of New Hires. 102
(c) The State Directory of New Hires created in s. 103
409.2576. 104
(d) The Department of Corrections inmate database. 105
(e) The Social Secur ity Administration Prisoner Update 106
Processing System. 107
(f) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 108
National Vital Statistics System death records database. 109
(g) The Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics 110
death records database. 111
(4) The department may not pay any week claimed by a 112
claimant that has not been cross -checked against all the sources 113
specified in subsections (2) and (3), as appropriate, or similar 114
sources of information. However, in any week in which any of the 115
sources specified are unavailable, the claim may be paid 116
provided that the department cross -checks the claimant's 117
information against the unavailable source upon its 118
availability. 119
(5) The department shall do all of the following: 120
(a) Investigate any claim in this stat e associated with a 121
mailing address, a bank account, an e -mail address, a telephone 122
number, or an Internet protocol address that is also associated 123
with another existing claim for reemployment assistance benefits 124
in this state or another state and verify t hat the claim in this 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
state is legitimate and not fraudulent before paying any 126
benefits for the claim. 127
(b) Scrutinize any claim in this state filed from a 128
foreign Internet protocol address before paying any benefits for 129
the claim. 130
(c) Work with the Uni ted States Department of Labor, the 131
United States Department of Justice, other state workforce 132
agencies, the Department of Law Enforcement, the state 133
attorneys, or the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor to share 134
information related to fraudulent claims or attempted fraudulent 135
claims to the extent feasible for further investigation and 136
proceedings brought under this chapter. 137
(d) Maintain a web page and an e -mail address through 138
which an individual or an employer may report known or suspected 139
violations of this chapter, including identity theft or fraud. 140
Each year, the department shall notify employers in the state of 141
this web page and e-mail address for reporting violations. 142
(e) Each year, make available on its website a report 143
identifying the number of f raudulent reemployment assistance 144
claims identified for the prior year, the number of claims not 145
paid due to successful detection of fraudulent intentions, the 146
number of claims and the amount of reemployment assistance 147
benefits paid against claims subseque ntly identified as 148
fraudulent, the amount of fraudulent overpayments recovered, and 149
the number of fraudulent claims referred for investigation and 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
possible prosecution. The report must also list the sources of 151
information that were used to cross -check claims during the 152
reporting period. 153
Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 154
445.011, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 155
445.011 Consumer-first workforce system. — 156
(1) The department, in consultation with the state board, 157
the Department of Education, and the Department of Children and 158
Families, shall implement, subject to legislative appropriation, 159
an automated consumer -first workforce system that improves 160
coordination among required one -stop partners and is necessary 161
for the efficient an d effective operation and management of the 162
workforce development system. This system shall include, but 163
need not be limited to, the following: 164
(b)1. An automated job-matching information system that is 165
accessible to employers, job seekers, and other use rs via the 166
Internet, that is in alignment with the implementation of 20 167
C.F.R. s. 652.3, and that includes, at a minimum: 168
a.1. Skill match information, including skill gap 169
analysis; resume creation; job order creation; skill tests; job 170
search by area, employer type, and employer name; and training 171
provider linkage; 172
b.2. Job market information based on surveys, including 173
local, state, regional, national, and international occupational 174
and job availability information; and 175
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c.3. Service provider informat ion, including education and 176
training providers, child care facilities and related 177
information, health and social service agencies, and other 178
providers of services that would be useful to job seekers. 179
2. The job-matching information system must use artif icial 180
intelligence generation for the purpose of matching participants 181
to jobs and training opportunities and must include a knowledge, 182
skills, and interests assessment for the purpose of guiding 183
participants to jobs and training opportunities. 184
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 185