The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1935-01-18
CABINET COMMITTEE REPOkl
ON SOCIAL LEGISLATION ID >,
COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENT

aeIehse, Gre ordinarily steaui:y
employed, but benehcla, no S in
maintaining purchasing ]; po will not
secession time. While 1t Will a NV
dirpectIv benefit those now untn
u elnHad until they are reabsoftDeta
in industry, it should pc ' date to
ed at the earliest possible III u' who
increase the security OF al "
are employed. Tho states
WE odminister unemployment
COMPENSATION son assisted by tn nj :, a md
eral government. We r ,e. nf a
e es'l essential the imposition Oh Ia a
Uniform u9 payroll tax against ; wd,rn
credits shall be allowed TO ,n 70
tries (which have contrloutsvu udSI
unemployment insurance iu asesd
in states that shall have passea
compulsory Ct, unemployment o COM q
pensation laws. Through suen 80
inform payroll tax it will be po%
sible to remove the unfair COLL ,.s
petitive advantage that employers yer
operating in states whlch at;on
failed to adopt a compehs"'t nn
system enjoy over employers "
Grating in states which give suen
protection to their wage earheis'
We believe also that it IS essen essen
tial that the federal goverhlheena'
assume responsibility for sale I
guarding, investing, and llqulaae.
inc all resrve funds, in order iha'
these reserves may be utilized W
promote economic stability and to
avoid dangers inherent in their
uncontrolled investment and hqui-
dalton. We believe, further, that
the federal act should require
high administrative standards put
should leave wide latitude to the
states in other respects, as we
deem varied experience necessary
within particular provisions IN un-
EMPLOYMENT compensation laws IN
order to conclude what types are
most practicable in this country.
In the basis calculations OF our
actuaries, a waiting period OF TOUR
weeks, a so per cent compensa-
ton rate and a maximum OF S15
per week, but no minimum, were
assumed. We suggest to the states
in framing their laws that on the
basis of 8 per cent contribution
rate the maximum benefit period
cannot safely exceed 16 weeks
and should be reduced to Is
weeks, if it is desired to give
workers who have been long en-
ployed without drawing benefits
an additional (maximum) week
of compensation for each six
months they have been employed
without drawing benefits, up to a
maximum of 10 additional weeks.
Extended cash benefits seems to
us far less desirable than work
benefits and We recommend that
an employee, after he has exhaust
ed. his contractural rights, be GER
titled to the authorities in charge
of the federal work program as
entitled to a work benefit. Such
certification shall entitle the un-
employed insured worker, who has
exhausted his cash benefits, to en-
ployment on any available public
employment project.
The state should make all con-
tributions compulsory and may
require them from employers
alone, or from employers and emr'
ployees, with or without contribu-
ton by the state government. The
states should have freedom in de-
termining their own waiting pc
RODS, benefit rates, maximum
benefit periods, etc. We suggest
caution lest they insert in their
laws benefit provisions in excess
of collections.
We earnestly recommend prompt
enactment by the congress of leg
islation which will (1) impose a
uniform tax on the employers to
whom the act is applicable, begin
ming with the year 1886, and (2)
create machinery for participation
in the administration of unemploy-
ment compensation.
The tax should be imposed upon
all employers who have employed
four or more employees for a rear
sonable period. of time, (any 13
weeks of the taxable year for ex-
am.!e), and should be measured
by d percentage of the employers
payroll. BY 1898 the rate of tax
should be three per cent of the
payroll; but in the fist two years,
if economic recover has not pro-
crossed satisfactorily, we recon-
mend a lower rate, and suggest
that the index of industrial pro-
duction of the federal reserve
board may we'll be used to deter
mine whether the rate in the first
and second years shall be one per
cent, two per cent, or three per
cent. We are opposed to exclu-
sions of any specified industries
from the federal act, but favor
the establishment of separate
nationally administered system of
unemployment compensation for
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