[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 126 (Friday, September 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10554-S10555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRAMS:
  S. 2072. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
eliminate the requirement that States pay unemployment compensation on 
the basis of services performed by election workers; to the Committee 
on Finance.


              the election workers unemployment reform act

 Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I offer legislation that would 
remove a costly and unnecessary burden imposed by Washington upon our 
State and local governments.
  Current Federal law requires States and counties to pay unemployment 
tax and benefits for people who work as election officials--even if 
they work as few as two days a year.

[[Page S10555]]

  This requirement has created a serious inequity for State and local 
governments. Under the law, polling place officials are considered as 
employees for unemployment insurance purposes, regardless of the number 
of days they work. Local governments are liable for payment of 
unemployment insurance for those election workers who apply for it 
after the elections, since they are being ``laid off from the 
employment through no fault of his or her own.'' As a consequence, 
their unemployment benefits could far exceed the stipend they receive 
for services on election day, because unemployment benefits are based 
on income from the previous year.
  During this time of belt-tightening at every level of government, 
many communities are having difficulty financing even the most 
fundamental activities, including election administration. Requiring 
local governments to spend their precious tax dollars paying 
unemployment benefits for such short-term employees would add a 
tremendous financial burden to budgets that in many cases are already 
strained to the breaking point.
  Mr. President, this current requirement does more harm than good to 
those it intends to protect. It hurts those civic-minded Americans who 
play a vital role in our democratic system through their willingness to 
serve as election officials, because it diverts limited public funds 
that would otherwise be used to balance local budgets or increase the 
salaries of election workers. It also makes it more difficult to retain 
and recruit an adequate number of qualified people to serve as election 
officials in our communities.
  My legislation seeks to free our communities and the taxpayers from 
this costly and unnecessary, federally imposed burden. It simply 
eliminates the requirement that state and local governments must pay 
unemployment compensation tax on the basis of services performed by 
election workers. Instead, it gives the States the freedom to design 
and run their own unemployment compensation programs for their election 
workers.
  I might add that according to the Congressional Budget Office, this 
bill is budget neutral.
  Mr. President, this is a reasonable and moderate attempt to correct 
an inequity for our States, cities, and counties, whose budgets are 
already tightly stretched providing the services upon which our 
communities depend. I therefore urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
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