§ 552-A — Re-employment service fund

§ 552-a. Re-employment service fund. 1. There is hereby established in\nthe joint custody of the commissioner of taxation and finance and the\nstate comptroller a fund to be known as the "re-employment service\nfund".\n 2. The re-employment service fund shall consist of all moneys\ncollected and received by the commissioner from employers pursuant to\nsection five hundred eighty-one-b of this article as well as interest\nand penalties associated with such collection. All moneys collected as\ncontributions and interest relating to re-employment services under this\narticle shall be deposited in a bank, trust company or industrial bank\ndesignated by the state comptroller. Moneys so deposited shall be\ncredited immediately to the account of the re-employment service fund\nand shall be used for the purposes set forth in section five hundred\nninety-eight of this article. Moneys in such fund may be invested by the\nstate comptroller in accordance with the provisions of section\nninety-eight of the state finance law, and shall be used for the\npurposes specified herein. Any balance in such fund shall not lapse at\nany time but shall remain continuously available for such purposes,\nprovided, however, that it shall be subject to the crediting provisions\nof subdivision five of this section.\n 3. Moneys in the re-employment service fund shall be kept separate\nfrom and shall not be commingled with any other moneys in the custody of\nthe commissioner of taxation and finance and the state comptroller. All\ndeposits of such moneys shall, if required by the state comptroller, be\nsecured by obligations of the United States or of this state of market\nvalue equal at all times to the amount of the deposit and all banks and\ntrust companies are authorized to give such securities for such\ndeposits.\n 4. Moneys of the fund shall be used exclusively for the purpose of\nproviding additional automated systems and staff to provide enhanced\nre-employment services and claimant management activities for\nunemployment compensation claimants and for the payment of associated\nadministrative costs relating to unemployment compensation claimants.\nThe moneys shall be paid out of the fund on the audit and warrant of the\nstate comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by such commissioner\nor his or her duly designated officer.\n 5. The re-employment service fund shall not be used in whole or in\npart for any purpose or in any manner which (a) would permit its\nsubstitution for, or a corresponding reduction in, federal funds that\nwould be available in its absence to finance expenditures for the\nadministration of this article; or (b) would cause the appropriate\nagency of the United States government to withhold any part of an\nadministrative grant which would otherwise be made.\n 6. On or before January thirty-first, two thousand one, the\ncommissioner shall submit a report to the chairman of the assembly ways\nand means committee, the ranking minority member of the assembly ways\nand means committee, the chairman of the senate finance committee, the\nranking minority member of the senate finance committee, and the\ndirector of the division of the budget regarding the re-employment\nservices fund established pursuant to this section. The report shall\ncontain the following information:\n (a) the amount of money deposited in the re-employment services fund\nfor each year of its existence;\n (b) the number of department employees funded through the\nre-employment services fund;\n (c) the results of the activities engaged in by department employees\nfunded through the re-employment services fund.\n