A. The Commission shall have the following powers and duties:
1. Evaluate the impact of existing statutes and proposed legislation on unemployment compensation and the Unemployment Trust Fund;
2. Assess the Commonwealth’s unemployment compensation programs and examine ways to enhance effectiveness;
3. Monitor the current status and long-term projections for the Unemployment Trust Fund; and
4. Report annually its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly and the Governor.
B. The Commission shall also be responsible for monitoring the Virginia Employment Commission’s management of the Commonwealth’s unemployment insurance system by monitoring the Virginia Employment Commission’s following operations:
1. Key performance metrics related to unemployment insurance backlogs;
2. Efforts to identify, prevent, and recover incorrect unemployment insurance benefit payments, including fraudulent payments;
3. Modernization of the unemployment insurance information technology system and subsequent efforts to improve functionality;
4. Expenditures of state funds appropriated for unemployment insurance administration; and
5. Implementation of recommendations from the 2021 Operations and Performance of the Virginia Employment Commission report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.
C. The Commission shall periodically convene an advisory committee composed of an employer representative, an employee representative, a labor economist, a finance expert, a labor law expert, and any other stakeholders or subject matter experts deemed appropriate by the Commission for the following purposes: (i) to review UI benefits, replacement ratios, and recipiency rates; (ii) to identify factors that affect UI benefits and recipiency, such as design of UI benefit calculations or UI eligibility criteria; (iii) to assess the advantages and disadvantages of potential changes to benefits; and (iv) to recommend to the Commission options to change benefit levels when needed. This advisory committee shall be established by December 1, 2022, and shall be convened at least every five years thereafter.