HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Alex Halper today issued the following statement after the Senate amended and passed House Bill 274, a package of reforms to the state’s unemployment compensation (UC) system.
“This bill takes several important steps to improve the unemployment compensation system. It strengthens protections against claimants who avoid pursuing employment, fixes a technical flaw that would have driven up system costs, and helps employers avoid tax increases when former employees qualify for benefits.
“At the same time, we are concerned about the delay of the updated benefit formula set for 2026, which was designed to make benefits fairer and ease long-term pressure on the UC Trust Fund. As discussions continue, we urge lawmakers to focus on the system’s financial stability, which remains below federal solvency benchmarks even as Pennsylvania employers pay among the highest UC taxes in the country.”
“We appreciate the work of Senate Republicans, and especially Labor and Industry Committee Chair Devlin Robinson, to move this bipartisan unemployment compensation legislation that includes several PA Chamber priorities to improve how the system is run.”
Background
H.B. 274 incorporates legislation introduced by Senator Michelle Brooks (R-Crawford) to address “ghosting,” in which claimants skip interviews or ignore job offers to keep receiving benefits. Employers have raised concerns about this for years, and the bill confirms that claimants who discourage their own employment are not eligible.
H.B. 274 includes several other provisions supported by the PA Chamber:
- Strengthens requirements for individuals who were recently deemed ineligible to show a clear tie to the workforce before reapplying for benefits
- Corrects a technical error that would have expanded eligibility and increased system costs.
- Adds new situations where employers are automatically granted relief from charges, helping them avoid UC tax hikes.