The rate of unemployment in the State of Florida has risen dramatically over the last three years. Florida’s unemployment rate now stands at 11.2%, a dramatic increase from the 7.6% rate in December 2008, and over three times the 3.3% rate in July 2006. Currently, 658,986 Floridians receive unemployment compensation, an increase of 86% from the approximately 354,000 recipients in December 2008. Over 210,000 of the current recipients have exhausted the maximum 26 weeks of regular benefits authorized by Florida law. These individuals continue to receive unemployment compensation only because federal law now provides additional benefits to persons whose state benefits have been exhausted. By December 31, 2009, the Agency estimates that 250,000 recipients will have exhausted these additional benefits. Recent federal legislation has authorized and funded additional benefits, enabling most of the 250,000 to continue to receive unemployment compensation. Implementing this legislation, however, will require the creation of administrative rules. In order to ensure that these rules are in place before unemployment compensation recipients lose their benefits, the Agency seeks to adopt emergency rules implementing the new federal legislation while it pursues the regular rulemaking process set forth in Section 120.54, Florida Statutes. Since July 2008, Congress has passed five pieces of legislation which have progressively increased the duration of these additional benefits. These were: Title IV of the Supplemental Appropriations Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-252), the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-449), Title II of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-4), the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 (Public Law 11-92), and House Bill 3326. (House Bill 3326 does not yet have a Public Law number, as it was signed into law less than a week before this writing.) The cumulative effect of the first three of these acts was to create and fund a system of Emergency Unemployment Compensation. Under this system, states can pay additional benefits to unemployed persons who had exhausted their regular state benefits. Eligible recipients can receive Tier One benefits for up to 20 weeks. Upon exhaustion of Tier One benefits, eligible recipients can receive Tier Two benefits for up to 13 weeks. As of this writing, 213,273 recipients have exhausted their Tier Two benefits. The most recent federal legislation, the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 (Public Law 11-92), created and funded a third and fourth tier of Emergency Unemployment Compensation and added an extra week of benefits to Tier Two. Under this law, Tier Three recipients may receive benefits for up to 13 weeks, and Tier Four recipients may receive benefits for up to 6 weeks. House Bill 3326 extended the duration of time within which eligible persons might collect these benefits. In order to determine which individuals are eligible for benefits and provide compensation to them as quickly as possible, it is necessary that the processes set forth in this emergency rule, and the forms incorporated by reference, be implemented immediately, without the delay attendant with regular rulemaking procedures. The Agency is currently pursuing the regular rulemaking process for incorporating these forms and procedures into its current claims rules, found in Chapter 60BB-3, Florida Administrative Code.