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AN ACT relating to unemployment insurance. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 341.415 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) (a) Any person who has received any sum as benefits under this chapter or any 4
other state's unemployment insurance statutes or any United States 5
Department of Labor unemployment insurance benefit program, providing the 6
secretary has signed a reciprocal agreement with such other state or the United 7
States Department of Labor as provided in KRS 341.145, while any condition 8
for the receipt of such benefits was not fulfilled in his or her case, or while he 9
or she was disqualified from receiving benefits, or if he or she has received 10
benefits in weeks for which he or she later receives a back pay award, shall, in 11
the discretion of the secretary, either have such sum deducted from any future 12
benefits payable to him or her under this chapter or repay the Office of 13
Unemployment Insurance, Department of Workforce Investment, for the fund 14
a sum equal to the amount so received by him or her. 15
(b) If after due notice, the recipient of such sum fails to remit or arrange for 16
remittance of the sum, the sum may be collected in the manner provided in 17
KRS 341.300(2) for collection of past-due contributions and any sums so 18
collected shall be credited to the pooled account or the appropriate 19
reimbursing employer account. 20
(c) The appropriate reimbursing employer account shall not receive credit for 21
sums collected under this subsection or KRS 341.550(2)(b) if a determination 22
has been made that an improper benefit payment established after October 21, 23
2013, was due to the reimbursing employer, or an agent of the employer, in 24
accordance with the provisions of KRS 341.530(4)(a) and (b). The sums 25
collected shall be credited to the pooled account. 26
(d) If any benefit was paid as a result of office error as defined by administrative 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 408
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regulation, there shall be no recoupment or recovery of an improperly paid 1
benefit, except by deduction from any future benefits payable to him or her 2
under this chapter. For purposes of this section, overpayments as a result of a 3
reversal of entitlement to benefits in the appeal or review process shall not be 4
construed to be the result of office error. 5
(2) At or after the commencement of an action under subsection (1) of this section, 6
attachment may be had against property of the recipient of improperly paid benefits 7
in the manner provided in KRS 341.300(3). 8
(3) A lien on a parity with state, county, and municipal ad valorem tax liens, is hereby 9
created in favor of the office upon all property of any recipient of improperly paid 10
benefits. This lien shall be for a sum equal to the amount of the overpayment finally 11
determined and shall continue until the amount of the overpayment plus any 12
subsequent assessment of additional improperly paid benefits, penalty, interest, and 13
fees are fully paid. The lien shall commence from such time as the recipient has 14
exhausted or abandoned the appeal procedure set forth in this chapter and the 15
amount of the overpayment is finally fixed. A notice of lien may be filed in the 16
same manner as that provided for in KRS 341.310. 17
(4) Any amount paid to a person as benefits, which he or she has been found liable to 18
repay or to have deducted from future benefits under subsections (1), (2), and (3) of 19
this section, which has neither been repaid nor so deducted within a period of five 20
(5) years following the last day of the benefit year within which it was paid, may be 21
deemed to be uncollectible and shall be permanently charged to the pooled account, 22
except that if such payment was made by reason of fraudulent representations, no 23
future benefits shall be paid such person within a period of ten (10) years of the last 24
day of the benefit year within which such payments were made at which time these 25
amounts may be declared uncollectible. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed 26
to affect collection of improperly paid benefits pursuant to a judgment or other legal 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 408
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remedy. 1
(5) In the event benefits have been paid as a result of a false statement, 2
misrepresentation, or concealment of material information by a recipient of benefits 3
and have not been repaid by the recipient within one (1) calendar year from the date 4
of the first notice, interest at the rate of one and five-tenths percent (1.5%) per 5
month or any part thereof, shall be imposed on and added to the unpaid balance 6
each successive month, providing due notice has been given to the recipient. Such 7
interest shall be paid into the unemployment compensation administration account. 8
(6) A recipient of benefits paid as a result of a false statement, misrepresentation, or 9
concealment of material information by the recipient shall be assessed a fifteen 10
percent (15%) penalty of the amount of improperly paid benefits. The penalty under 11
this subsection shall be collected in the same manner as improperly paid benefits in 12
this section and paid into the unemployment trust fund. 13
(7) The deduction from future benefits specified in subsection (1) of this section shall 14
be limited to twenty-five percent (25%) of the benefit amount otherwise payable 15
under this chapter unless the overpayment resulted from a backpay award, false 16
statement, misrepresentation, or concealment of material information by a recipient 17
of benefits. In these instances, the rate of deduction shall be one hundred percent 18
(100%). The rate of deduction from benefits payable by another state or the United 19
States of America shall be determined by the applicable state or federal statute. 20
(8) Upon request of the recipient, the secretary may waive an overpayment of benefits 21
if he or she finds that recovery of the overpayment would be against equity and 22
good conscience and the overpayment was: 23
(a) Due to administrative, clerical, or office error; or 24
(b) Not the result of fraud, misrepresentation, willful nondisclosure, or fault 25
attributable to the recipient. 26
Section 2. KRS 341.450 is amended to read as follows: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 408
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(1) Except as provided in KRS 341.460, within thirty-five (35)[twenty (20)] days after 1
the date of the decision of the commission, any party aggrieved thereby may, after 2
exhausting his remedies before the commission, secure judicial review thereof by 3
filing a complaint against the commission in the Circuit Court of the county in 4
which the claimant was last employed by a subject employer whose reserve account 5
or reimbursing employer account is affected by such claims. Any other party to the 6
proceeding before the commission shall be made a defendant in such action. The 7
complaint shall state fully the grounds upon which review is sought, assign all 8
errors relied on, and shall be verified by the plaintiff or his attorney. The plaintiff 9
shall furnish copies thereof for each defendant to the commission, which shall 10
deliver one (1) copy to each defendant. 11
(2) Summons shall issue upon the complaint directing the commission to file answer 12
within twenty (20) days after service thereof. Such summons shall be served upon a 13
member of the commission, or upon such person as the commission designates, and 14
such service shall be deemed complete service upon all members of the 15
commission. The commission may be represented by any qualified attorney 16
designated by the commission for that purpose or, at the request of the commission, 17
by the Attorney General. With its answer, the commission shall certify and file as an 18
exhibit with the court all documents and papers, and a transcript of all testimony 19
taken in the matter, and orders made therein, together with its findings of fact and 20
decision therein. If consented to by the plaintiff and the adverse party, an abstract of 21
any portion of the record may be certified by the commission in lieu of certifying 22
such portion of the record in full. The commission may certify to the court questions 23
of law involved in any decision by it. 24
(3) Such actions, and the questions so certified, shall be heard by the court in a 25
summary manner upon the record certified by the commission. The court on its own 26
motion or on the motion of an interested party shall assign a date certain for the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 408
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review. The clerk of the court shall notify the attorneys of record of the date 1
assigned for review at least ten (10) days in advance thereof. The court shall enter 2
judgment, affirming, modifying, or setting aside the order and the decision appealed 3
from or determining the question of law certified to it by the commission, and may 4
in advance of judgment, remand the case to the commission for further proceedings 5
in accordance with the direction of the court. 6
(4) An appeal may be taken from the decision of the Circuit Court to the Court of 7
Appeals, in the same manner, but not inconsistent with the provisions of this 8
chapter, as is provided in equity cases. 9
(5) It shall not be necessary, in any judicial proceeding under this section or KRS 10
341.460, to have entered exceptions to the rulings of the commission, and no bond 11
shall be required for entering such appeal. Upon the final determination of such 12
judicial proceeding, the commission shall enter an order in accordance with such 13
determination. A petition for judicial review shall not act as a supersedeas or stay 14
unless the commission shall so order. 15