WAITING PERIOD FOR BENEFITS AND BENEFIT INCREASES.

SEC. 7201. WAITING PERIOD FOR BENEFITS AND BENEFIT INCREASES. (a) In General.—Section 2(a) is amended— (1) by inserting “(1)” after “(a)”; (2) by striking out “Benefits” the first place it appears and all that follows through the end of the first paragraph, and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “(A)(i) Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, benefits shall be payable to any qualified employee for each day of unemployment in excess of 4 during any registration period. “(ii) No benefits shall be payable for days of unemployment during the first registration period within a benefit year in which the employee has more than 4 days of unemployment. 102 STAT. 3775 “(iii) In any case in which the Board finds that an employee’s unemployment was due to a stoppage of work because of a strike in the establishment, premises, or enterprise at which such employee was last employed, no benefits shall be payable for the first 14 days of unemployment due to such stoppage of work. However, for subsequent days of unemployment due to such stoppage of work, benefits shall be payable to days in excess of 4 during any registration period. “(B)(i) Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, benefits shall be payable to any qualified employee for each day of sickness after the 4th consecutive day of sickness in a period of continuing sickness but excluding 4 days of sickness in any registration period. “(ii) No benefits shall be payable for days of sickness in the first registration period within a benefit year in which the employee has both 4 consecutive days of sickness and more than 4 days of sickness. “(iii) For the purposes of this subparagraph, a period of continuing sickness means (I) a period of consecutive days of sickness, whether from one or more causes, or (H) a period of successive days of sickness due to a single cause without interruption of more than 90 consecutive days which are not days of sickness.”; (3) by inserting “(2)” at the beginning of the second paragraph; (4) by striking out “and” after “shall not exceed $24 per day of such unemployment or sickness” in the second paragraph and inserting in lieu thereof a comma; (5) by inserting “but before July 1, 1988,” after “June 30, 1976,” in the second paragraph; (6) by striking out the period at the end of the first sentence of the second paragraph and inserting in lieu thereof “, that for registration periods beginning after June 30, 1988, but before July 1, 1989, such amount shall not exceed $30 per day of unemployment or sickness, and that for registration periods beginning after June 30, 1989, such amount shall not exceed the maximum daily benefit rate provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection.”; (7) by inserting after the second paragraph the following new paragraph: “(3)(A) The maximum daily benefit rate which the Board is required to compute under section 12(r)(2) shall be the amount computed pursuant to the following formula, but shall be not less than $30: BR=25(1+A−600900) “(B) For purposes of such formula— “(i) ‘BR’ represents the maximum daily benefit rate; and “(ii) ‘A’ represents the amount obtained by dividing the amount of the ‘applicable base’ with respect to tier 1 taxes as determined under section 3231(e)(2) of the Internal Revenue 102 STAT. 3776Code of 1986 for the calendar year in which the benefit year begins by 60, with this quotient being rounded down to the nearest multiple of $100. “(C) If the maximum daily benefit rate computed under such formula is not a multiple of $1, it shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $1, with such rounding being upward in the event the amount computed is equidistant between two multiples of $1.”; and (8) by inserting “(4)” at the beginning of the last paragraph. (b) Effective Dates.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. (2) The amendments made by paragraph (2) of subsection (a) shall apply with respect to registration periods beginning after June 30,