A 5470: Establishes the rapid employment assistance and counseling hub (REACH) program to dispatch a mobile unit to provide information, assistance and other services concerning unemployment compensation insurance at the request of a legislator or official of a municipality.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5470 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. FORREST -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to establishing the rapid employment assistance and counseling hub program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 541 to 2 read as follows: 3 § 541. Rapid employment assistance and counseling hub (REACH) program. 4 1. As used in this section, the term "mobile unit" means a motorized 5 vehicle outfitted to operate as a traveling unemployment service center 6 to provide in-person assistance. 7 2. By January first, two thousand twenty-seven, the department shall 8 establish a rapid employment assistance and counseling hub (REACH) 9 program. The program shall dispatch a mobile unit to provide informa- 10 tion, assistance, and other services concerning unemployment compen- 11 sation insurance upon the request of a state legislator or an official 12 of a municipality or other political subdivision in the legislator's 13 legislative district or the official's municipality or political subdi- 14 vision from nine a.m. to five p.m. for one to four calendar days. 15 3. A mobile unit shall provide residents of the respective localities 16 with an opportunity to meet with an employee of the department of labor 17 concerning unemployment insurance who can: 18 a. address general questions regarding the unemployment program and 19 benefits; and 20 b. assist with specific claim questions, issues, concerns, and trou- 21 bleshooting, including but not limited to: 22 (i) assessing whether an individual is likely to qualify for unemploy- 23 ment compensation; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD07366-01-5 
 A. 5470 2 1 (ii) providing instructions on how to file an unemployment compen- 2 sation claim and assistance in obtaining and interpreting information on 3 the federal 1099-G tax form; and 4 (iii) information on an individual's existing unemployment claim, 5 including but not limited to, the status of the claim, potential 6 solutions and troubleshooting of any issues regarding an individual's 7 eligibility or other barriers to the individual collecting unemployment 8 compensation benefits. 9 4. Any resident of the legislative district, municipality, or poli- 10 tical subdivision, as appropriate, may access the services of the mobile 11 unit. The department may permit individuals to pre-register for assist- 12 ance, but shall not require pre-registration as a condition of assist- 13 ance. 14 5. A legislator or other official seeking mobile unit services shall 15 submit a request for such services, in writing or email, to the depart- 16 ment at least two weeks prior to the requested service date. Unless the 17 mobile unit has already been scheduled to service a different location 18 in response to a prior request from another legislator or other offi- 19 cial, the department shall dispatch the mobile unit to service the 20 location on the requested date. Each legislator or other official shall 21 be limited to twelve requests for the mobile unit in a calendar year, 22 except that if legislators or officials from the same legislative 23 district or municipality request the unit within the same month, the 24 first request in that month shall count toward each requestor's total 25 number of requests. 26 6. No later than January first, two thousand twenty-eight, the commis- 27 sioner shall submit to the governor and the legislature a report that 28 evaluates the results of the program and its effectiveness in assisting 29 residents with unemployment benefit claims and other unemployment 30 concerns. The report shall include a recommendation regarding whether to 31 make changes to the program, and if changes are recommended, if the 32 program should be expanded or otherwise enhanced. 33 7. The commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to 34 implement the provisions of this act. 35 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.