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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.; revising 4
circumstances under which the Department of Commerce 5
disqualifies claimants from reemployment assistance 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 duties of the 10
department; requiring the department to maintain a web 11
page for a specified purpose and to notify employers 12
each year of the web page; providing annual reporting 13
requirements; providing an effective date. 14
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16
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Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Promoting Work, 18
Deterring Fraud Act of 2025." 19
Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 443.101, Florida 20
Statutes, is amended to read: 21
443.101 Disqualification for benefits.—An individual shall 22
be disqualified for benefits: 23
(2) If the Department of Commerce finds that the 24
individual has failed without good cause to apply for available 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
suitable work, including contacting the required number of 26
prospective employers per week for any week of unemployment 27
claimed in the benefit year in accordance with s. 443.091, or 28
failed to appear on three or more occasions for a scheduled job 29
interview without notifying the prospective employer of the need 30
to cancel or reschedule the interview, to accept suitable work 31
when offered to him or her, to or return to the individual's 32
customary self-employment when directed by the department , or to 33
return to employment when recalled to work by the individual's 34
employer after a temporary layo ff, the disqualification 35
continues for the full period of unemployment next ensuing after 36
he or she failed without good cause to apply for available 37
suitable work, accept suitable work, or return to his or her 38
customary employment or self-employment, and until the 39
individual has earned income of at least 17 times his or her 40
weekly benefit amount. The department shall by rule adopt 41
criteria to implement this subsection, including for determining 42
the "suitability of work," as used in this section. In 43
developing these rules, the department shall consider the 44
duration of a claimant's unemployment in determining the 45
suitability of work and the suitability of proposed rates of 46
compensation for available work. Further, after an individual 47
has received 25 weeks of b enefits in a single year, suitable 48
work is a job that pays the minimum wage and is 120 percent or 49
more of the weekly benefit amount the individual is drawing. 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
(a) In determining whether or not any work is suitable for 51
an individual, the department shall consider the degree of risk 52
to the individual's health, safety, and morals; the individual's 53
physical fitness, prior training, experience, prior earnings, 54
length of unemployment, and prospects for securing local work in 55
his or her customary occupation; and the distance of the 56
available work from his or her residence. 57
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, 58
work is not deemed suitable and benefits may not be denied to 59
any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new 60
work under any of the following conditions: 61
1. The position offered is vacant due directly to a 62
strike, lockout, or other labor dispute. 63
2. The wages, hours, or other conditions of the work 64
offered are substantially less favorable to the individual than 65
those prevailing for similar work in the locality. 66
3. As a condition of being employed, the individual is 67
required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain 68
from joining any bona fide labor organization. 69
(c) If the department finds that an individua l was 70
rejected for offered employment as the direct result of a 71
positive, confirmed drug test required as a condition of 72
employment, the individual is disqualified for refusing to 73
accept an offer of suitable work. 74
Section 3. Section 443.1112, Florida S tatutes, is created 75
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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
to read: 76
443.1112 Verification of reemployment assistance benefit 77
eligibility; detection of fraud. — 78
(1) The Department of Commerce must verify the identity of 79
each claimant who applies for reemployment assistance benefits 80
before paying any benefits to that individual. 81
(2) For the initial claim for benefits made by a claimant 82
and as necessary to verify a claimant's eligibility for 83
benefits, the department must cross -check the information 84
contained in the claim with information in the database of the 85
Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program 86
established by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and 87
Immigration Services. 88
(3) For every 2 weeks that a claimant makes a claim for 89
benefits, including the initial claim for benefits, to verify a 90
claimant's eligibility for benefits, the department must cross -91
check the information contained in the claim to make sure that 92
the claimant is: 93
(a) Living. 94
(b) Not incarcerated. 95
(c) Not already employed. 96
(4) The department sh all do all of the following: 97
(a) Investigate any claim in this state associated with a 98
mailing address, a bank account, an e -mail address, a telephone 99
number, or an Internet protocol address that is also associated 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
with another existing claim for reemplo yment assistance benefits 101
in this state or another state and verify that the claim in this 102
state is legitimate and not fraudulent before paying any 103
benefits for the claim. 104
(b) Scrutinize any claim in this state filed from a 105
foreign Internet protocol addr ess before paying any benefits for 106
the claim. 107
(c) Work with the United States Department of Labor, the 108
United States Department of Justice, other state workforce 109
agencies, the Department of Law Enforcement, the state 110
attorneys, or the Office of the State wide Prosecutor to share 111
information related to fraudulent claims or attempted fraudulent 112
claims to the extent feasible for further investigation and 113
proceedings brought under this chapter. 114
(d) Maintain a web page through which an individual or an 115
employer may report known or suspected violations of this 116
chapter, including identity theft or fraud. Each year, the 117
department shall notify employers in this state of this web page 118
for reporting violations. 119
(e) Each year, make available on its website a repor t 120
identifying the number of fraudulent reemployment assistance 121
claims identified for the prior year, the number of claims not 122
paid due to successful detection of fraudulent intentions, the 123
number of claims and the amount of reemployment assistance 124
benefits paid against claims subsequently identified as 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
fraudulent, the amount of fraudulent overpayments recovered, and 126
the number of fraudulent claims referred for investigation and 127
possible prosecution. The report must also list the sources of 128
information that were used to cross-check claims during the 129
reporting period. 130
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 131