An Act To Expedite Training Waiver Decisions for Unemployment Claimants by Transferring Original Jurisdiction from the Unemployment Insurance Commission to the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1668
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: PATRICK, HERBIG, LANGLEY, HAMANN, LOCKMAN, MALABY, VOLK
Amends: 26 MRSA §1192

Legislative Document 
No. 1668 
S.P. 663 
In Senate, December 23, 2013 
An Act To Expedite Training Waiver Decisions for Unemployment 
Claimants by Transferring Original Jurisdiction from the 
Unemployment Insurance Commission to the Bureau of 
Unemployment Compensation 
Submitted by the Department of Labor pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 23, 2013.  Referred to the Committee 
on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and 
ordered printed. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator PATRICK of Oxford. 
Cosponsored by Representative HERBIG of Belfast and 
Senator: LANGLEY of Hancock, Representatives: HAMANN of South Portland, LOCKMAN 
of Amherst, MALABY of Hancock, VOLK of Scarborough. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §1192, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1991, c. 870, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
6.  Approved training.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, any 
otherwise eligible claimant in training, as approved for the claimant by the commission 
deputy, under rules adopted by the commission with the advice and consent of the 
commissioner, may not be denied benefits for any week with respect to subsection 3, 
relating to availability and the work search requirement or the provisions of section 1193, 
subsection 3.  Enrollment in a degree-granting program may not be the sole cause for 
denial of approved training status for an otherwise eligible claimant.  Benefits paid to any 
eligible claimant while in approved training, for which, except for this subsection, the 
claimant could be disqualified under section 1193, subsection 3, may not be charged 
against the experience rating record of any employer but must be charged to the General 
Fund.  The commission has appellate jurisdiction over these cases on appeal from the 
deputy.  For purposes of this subsection, "the deputy" means a representative from the 
bureau designated by the commissioner. 
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §1192, sub-§6-C, as repealed and replaced by PL 1989, c. 502, 
Pt. A, §109, is amended to read: 
6-C.  Prohibition against disqualification of individuals in approved training 
under section 1196.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no otherwise 
eligible individual may be denied benefits for any week because that individual is in 
training as approved by the commission deputy, under rules adopted by the commission 
with the advice and consent of the commissioner, nor may that individual be denied 
benefits by reason of leaving work to enter that training, provided that as long as the work 
left is not suitable employment.  The commission has appellate jurisdiction over these 
cases on appeal from the deputy. 
For purposes of this subsection, the term "suitable employment" means, with respect to an 
individual, work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the individual's past 
adversely affected employment, and "the deputy" means a representative from the bureau 
designated by the commissioner. 
SUMMARY 
This bill transfers original jurisdiction over training not approved by the federal 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 from the Maine Unemployment Insurance 
Commission to the Department of Labor, Bureau of Unemployment Compensation.  This 
change allows the Unemployment Insurance Commission to serve in the appellate 
capacity for training waiver cases.