Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 187

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19, DELAWARE CODE, RELATING TO UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION, BY CHANGING CERTAIN OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS THEREOF AND CREATING A SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION FUND.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware:

Section 1. Chapter 31, Title 19, Delaware Code, is amended by adding thereto an additional section, to read :

Section 3166. (a) Special administration fund. There is hereby created in the State treasury a special fund to be known as the special administration fund. This fund shall consist of all interest and penalties collected under the provisions of this part after September 30, 1967.

(b) Administration of the fund. All interest and penalty payments collected pursuant to the provisions of this part shall be deposited in the clearing account of the unemployment compensation fund for clearance only and shall not become part of said fund. After clearance, the moneys derived from such payments shall be deposited in the special administration fund. All moneys in the special administration fund shall be deposited, administered, and disbursed in the same manner as is provided by law for other special funds in the State Treasury, and such moneys shall be maintained in a separate ledger account on the books of the Budget Director. The State Treasurer shall be the custodian of, and shall be liable on his official bond for the faithful performance of his duties in connection with, the special administration fund. Such liability on the official bond shall exist in addition to the liability upon any separate bond which may be given by the State Treasurer. All sums recovered on any such official bond for losses sustained by the special administration fund shall be deposited in this fund. The premium for such official bond shall be paid from the moneys in the special administration fund. Balances to the credit of the special administration fund shall not lapse at any time but shall be continually available to the Commissioner for expenditures consistent with the pro-

visions of this section. If on September 30th of any calendar year the balance in the special administration fund exceeds $1,000.00, the State Treasurer shall promptly transfer the entire amount over $1,000.00 to the unemployment compensation fund.

(c) Use of fund. The moneys in the special administration fund may be used by the Commission for:

The payment of costs of the administration of this part which are not properly and validly chargeable against Federal granted funds or other funds received for or in the unemployment compensation administration fund ;

Replacement, within a reasonable time and subject to the provisions of Section 3165, of any moneys received by this State in the form of grants from the Federal government for administrative expenses which because of any action or contingency have been lost or have been expended for purposes other than or in amounts in excess of those considered by the United States Secretary of Labor to be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of this part ;

A revolving fund to cover expenditures for which Federal funds have been duly requested but not yet received, subject to the replacement of the amount expended when such funds are received; and refunds or erroneously collected interest and penalties subject to the provisions of Section 3365.

Section 2. The beginning of the second paragraph of Section 3161, Title 19, Delaware Code, is amended to read :

This fund shall consist of

(1)All assessments collected under this part, together with any interest thereon collected prior to October 1, 1967, pursuant to Sections 3357-3365 of this part ;

(2)All penalties collected prior to October 1, 1967, pursuant to the provisions of this part;

Section 3. The fifth and sixth sentences of Section 3162 (a), Title 19, Delaware Code, are amended to read as follows:

Refunds payable pursuant to Section 3365 of this part shall

be paid in accordance with the provisions of that section and may be paid from the clearing account upon warrants issued by the State Treasurer under the direction of the Commission.

Notwithstanding any provisions of law in this State relating to the deposit, administration, release, or disbursement of moneys in the possession or custody of this State, after clearance thereof, all moneys in the clearing account derived from assessments shall be immediately deposited with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of the account of this State in the unemployment trust fund, established and maintained pursuant to Section 904 of the U. S. Social Security Act, as amended, and all moneys derived from interest and penalties shall be deposited in the special administration fund established and maintained pursuant to the provisions of Section 3166 of this part.

Section 4. Chapter 31, Title 19, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by repealing Section 3165 thereof and substituting and enacting in lieu thereof the following new section :

§ 3165. Reimbursement of administration fund by State

If any moneys received after June 30, 1941, from the Secretary of Labor under Title III of the Social Security Act, or any unemcumbered balances in the unemployment compensation administration fund as of that date, or any moneys granted after that date to this State pursuant to the provisions of the WagnerPeyser Act, or any moneys made available by this State or its political subdivisions are found by the Secretary of Labor, because of any action or contingency, to have been lost or been expended for purposes other than, or in amounts in excess of, those found necessary by the Secretary of Labor for the proper administration of this part, it is the policy of this State that such amounts shall be replaced from the moneys in the special administration fund. Upon receipt of notice of such a finding by the United States Secretary of Labor, the Commission shall promptly replace the amount required for such replacement from the special administration fund, or, if the balance in this fund is insufficient, it shall promptly report the amount required for such replacement to the Governor, and the Governor shall, at the

earliest opportunity , submit to the legislature the request for the appropriation of such amount. This Section and Section 3164 of this title shall not be construed to relieve this State of its obligation with respect to funds received prior to July 1, 1941, pursuant to the provisions of Title III of the Social Security Act.

Section 5. The last sentence in the first paragraph of §3357, Title 19, Delaware Code, is amended to read as follows :

Interest collected pursuant to this section after September 30, 1967, shall be paid into the special administration fund.

Section 6. The last sentence in the last paragraph of §3357, Title 19, Delaware Code, is amended to read as follows:

As used in this section "State" includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Section 7. Section 3360, Title 19, Delaware Code, is amended to read :

§ 3360. Assessments, penalties and interest as debt to fund; reduction to judgment

The assessments, penalties, and interest due from the employer under the provisions of this chapter, from the time they become due, shall be a debt of the employer to the unemployment compensation fund and may be reduced to judgment in accordance with Sections 3358 and 3361 of this title, except that the interest and penalty from the employer under the provisions of this title after September 30, 1967, shall be a debt of the employer to the special administration fund.

Section 8. Chapter 33, Title 19, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by repealing §3365 thereof and substituting and enacting in lieu thereof the following new section :

§ 3365. Adjustments and refunds

(a) If not later than four years after the date on which any assessments became due, an employer who has paid such assessments makes application for an adjustment thereof in connection with subsequent assessment payments, or for a refund

thereof because such adjustment cannot be made, and the Commission determines that such assessments or any portion thereof was erroneously collected, the Commission shall allow such employer to make an adjustment thereof in connection with subsequent assessment payments by him, or if such adjustment cannot be made, the Commission shall refund the amount from the fund. For like cause and within the same period, adjustment or refund may be so made on the Commission's own initiative.

(b) If not later than four years after the date of payment of any amount of interest or penalty, an employing unit which has made such payment determines that it was made erroneously, it may request to have any subsequent amount of interest and penalties which has been, or might be, assessed against him, adjusted by the amount of the erroneous payment, or, if it appears that such adjustment would not be feasible within a reasonable time, it may request a refund of the erroneous payment. If, upon receipt of such a request, the Commis. sion determines that the payment of interest or penalties, or any portion thereof, was erroneous, it shall allow such employing unit to make an adjustment in an amount equal to that erroneously paid, without interest, in connection with any subsequent interest or penalty payment which may be due, or, if such adjustment cannot be made, the Commission shall refund the amount, without interest, from the fund into which such payment was deposited or from the interest and penalty moneys in the clearing account in the unemployment compensation fund. For like cause, within the same period, and subject to the same conditions, adjustment or refund of interest or penalty may be so made on the Commission's own initiative.

Approved December 27, 1967.