§ 96-6. Unemployment Insurance Fund. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 96‑6.  UnemploymentInsurance Fund.

(a)        Establishment andControl. – There is hereby established as a special fund, separate and apartfrom all public moneys or funds of this State, an Unemployment Insurance Fund,which shall be administered by the Commission exclusively for the purposes ofthis Chapter. This fund shall consist of:

(1)        All contributionscollected under this Chapter, together with any interest earned upon any moneysin the fund;

(2)        Any property orsecurities acquired through the use of moneys belonging to the fund;

(3)        All earnings of suchproperty or securities;

(4)        Any moneys receivedfrom the federal unemployment account in the unemployment trust fund inaccordance with Title XII of the Social Security Act as amended;

(5)        All moneys creditedto this State's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund pursuant to section 903of Title IX of the Social Security Act, as amended, (U.S.C.A. Title 42, sec.1103 (a));

(6)        All moneys paid tothis State pursuant to section 204 of the Federal‑State ExtendedUnemployment Compensation Act of 1970;

(7)        Reimbursementpayments in lieu of contributions.

All moneys in the fund shallbe commingled and undivided.

(b)        Accounts andDeposit. – The State Treasurer shall be ex officio the treasurer and custodianof the fund who shall disburse such fund in accordance with the directions ofthe Commission and in accordance with such regulations as the Commission shallprescribe. He shall maintain within the fund three separate accounts:

(1)        A clearing account,

(2)        An unemploymenttrust fund account, and

(3)        A benefit account.

All moneys payable to thefund, upon receipt thereof by the Commission, shall be forwarded immediately tothe treasurer who shall  immediately deposit them in the clearing account.Refunds payable pursuant to G.S. 96‑10 may be paid from the clearingaccount upon warrants issued upon the treasurer as provided in G.S. 143B‑426.40Gunder the requisition of the Commission. After clearance thereof, all othermoneys in the clearing account shall be immediately deposited with thesecretary of the treasury of the United States of America to the credit of theaccount of this State in the unemployment trust fund, established andmaintained pursuant to section 904 of the Social Security Act, as amended, anyprovision of law in this State relating to the deposit, administration,release, or disbursement of moneys in the possession or custody of this Stateto the contrary notwithstanding. The benefit account shall consist of allmoneys requisitioned from this State's account in the unemployment trust fund.Moneys in the clearing and benefit accounts may be deposited by the treasurer,under the direction of the Commission, in any bank or public depository inwhich general funds of the State may be deposited, but no public depositinsurance charge or premium shall be paid out of the fund. The State Treasurershall be liable on his official bond for the faithful performance of his dutiesin connection with the unemployment insurance fund provided for under thisChapter. Such liability on the official bond shall be effective immediatelyupon the enactment of this provision, and such liability shall exist inaddition to any liability upon any separate bond existent on the effective dateof this provision, or which may be given in the future. All sums recovered onany surety bond for losses sustained by the unemployment insurance fund shallbe deposited in said fund.

(c)        Moneys shall berequisitioned from this State's account in the unemployment trust fund solelyfor the payment of benefits (including extended benefits) and in accordancewith regulations prescribed by the Commission. The Commission shall, from timeto time, requisition from the unemployment trust fund such amounts, notexceeding the accounts standing to its account therein, as it deems necessaryfor the payment of benefits for a reasonable future period. Upon receiptthereof the treasurer shall deposit such moneys in the benefit account andshall pay all warrants drawn thereon as provided in G.S. 143B‑426.40G andrequisitioned by the Commission for the payment of benefits solely from suchbenefit account. Expenditures of such moneys in the benefit account and refundsfrom the clearing account shall not be subject to approval of the Budget Bureauor any provisions of law requiring specific appropriations or other formalrelease by State officers of money in their custody. All warrants issued uponthe treasurer for the payment of benefits and refunds shall be issued asprovided in G.S. 143B‑426.40G as requisitioned by the chairman of theCommission or a duly authorized agent of the Commission for that purpose. Anybalance of moneys requisitioned from the unemployment trust fund which remainsunclaimed or unpaid in the benefit account after the expiration of the periodfor which such sums were requisitioned shall either be deducted from estimatesfor, and may be utilized for the payment of, benefits during succeedingperiods, or, in the discretion of the Commission, shall be redeposited with theSecretary of the Treasury of the United States of America, to the credit ofthis State's account in the unemployment trust fund, as provided in subsection(b) of this section.

(d)        Management of Fundsupon Discontinuance of Unemployment Trust Fund. – The provisions of subsections(a), (b), and (c), to the extent that they relate to the unemployment trustfund, shall be operative only so long as such unemployment trust fund continuesto exist, and so long as the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States ofAmerica continues to maintain for this State a separate book account of allfunds deposited therein by this State for benefit purposes, together with thisState's proportionate share of the earnings of such unemployment trust fund,from which no other state is permitted to make withdrawals. If and when suchunemployment trust fund ceases to exist, or such separate book account is nolonger maintained, all moneys, properties, or securities therein belonging tothe Unemployment Insurance Fund of this State shall be transferred to thetreasurer of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, who shall hold, invest, transfer,sell, deposit, and release such moneys, properties, or securities in a mannerapproved by the Commission, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter:Provided, that such moneys shall be invested in the following readilymarketable classes of securities: Bonds or other interest‑bearingobligations of the United States of America or such investments as are nowpermitted by law for sinking funds of the State of North Carolina; and providedfurther, that such investment shall at all times be so made that all the assetsof the fund shall always be readily convertible into cash when needed for thepayment of benefits. The treasurer shall dispose of securities or other propertiesbelonging to the Unemployment Insurance Fund only under the direction of theCommission.

(e)        Benefits shall bedeemed to be due and payable under this Chapter only to the extent provided inthis Chapter and to the extent that moneys are available therefor to the creditof the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and neither the State nor the Commissionshall be liable for any amount in excess of such sums.

(f)         Any interestrequired to be paid on advances under Title XII of the Social Security Actshall be paid in a timely manner and shall not be paid, directly or indirectly,from amounts in the Unemployment Insurance Fund. (Ex. Sess. 1936, c. 1, ss. 9,18; 1939, c. 27, s. 7; c. 52, s. 4; c. 208; 1941, c. 108; 1945, c. 522, s. 4;1947, c. 326, s. 6; 1953, c. 401, ss. 1, 6; 1959, c. 362, s. 1; 1961, c. 454,ss. 1‑3; 1969, c. 575, s. 3; 1971, c. 673, ss. 3, 4; 1985, c. 197, s. 2;2006‑66, s. 6.19(a); 2006‑203, s. 23; 2006‑221, s. 3A; 2006‑259,s. 40(a).)