54                               LAWS OF MARYLAND                        [CH. 25

CHAPTER 25
(Senate Bill 94)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Sections 3 (b)
and 3 (c) of Article 95A of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1957
Edition and 1963 Supplement), title "Unemployment Insurance
Law", sub-title "Benefits", to amend the unemployment insurance
law with respect to the amount of benefits payable to claimants
and for their dependents and to provide that dependents' allow-
ances shall be regarded as benefits for computing contribution
rates; and to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 8 (c)
of said Article, sub-title "Contributions", with respect to basic
contribution rates for employers and alternate contribution rates
depending upon the balance in the unemployment insurance fund
available for benefits.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Sections 3 (b) and 3 (c) of Article 95A of the Annotated Code
of Maryland (1957 Edition and 1963 Supplement), title "Unemploy-
ment Insurance Law", sub-title "Benefits", and Section 8 (c) of said
Article, sub-title "Contributions", be and they are hereby repealed
and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

3 (b) (1) An individual's "weekly benefit amount" shall be deter-
mined by applying the total of wages paid him for insured work in
that calendar quarter of his base period in which such total wages
were highest to column (A) in "schedule of benefits" set forth below.
Upon determination as to the division of said schedule for which
such individual's high quarter wages qualify, the weekly benefit
amount shall be the amount shown on the same line in column (B).

Provided, if a claimant had not earned qualifying wages, as re-
quired in Section 4 (e) of this article, for the weekly benefit amount
shown in the schedule of benefits on the basis of his earnings in the
calendar quarter of the base period in which his earnings were
highest, but did earn qualifying wages for a lower division on said
schedule, he is to be considered eligible for benefits as shown in said
lower division. Provided further, that in no event shall any claimant
be permitted to drop down more than three divisions as shown on
the said schedule of benefits.