2009 North Carolina Code
Chapter 96 - Employment Security.
§ 96-6. Unemployment Insurance Fund.

§ 96‑6.  Unemployment Insurance Fund.

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

(1)        All contributions collected under this Chapter, together with any interest earned upon any moneys in the fund;

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

(3)        All earnings of such property or securities;

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

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

(6)        All moneys paid to this State pursuant to section 204 of the Federal‑State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970;

(7)        Reimbursement payments in lieu of contributions.

All moneys in the fund shall be commingled and undivided.

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

(1)        A clearing account,

(2)        An unemployment trust fund account, and

(3)        A benefit account.

All moneys payable to the fund, upon receipt thereof by the Commission, shall be forwarded immediately to the treasurer who shall  immediately deposit them in the clearing account. Refunds payable pursuant to G.S. 96‑10 may be paid from the clearing account upon warrants issued upon the treasurer as provided in G.S. 143B‑426.40G under the requisition of the Commission. After clearance thereof, all other moneys in the clearing account shall be immediately deposited with the secretary of the treasury of the United States of America to the credit of the account of this State in the unemployment trust fund, established and maintained pursuant to section 904 of the Social Security Act, as amended, any provision of law in this State relating to the deposit, administration, release, or disbursement of moneys in the possession or custody of this State to the contrary notwithstanding. The benefit account shall consist of all moneys 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 in which general funds of the State may be deposited, but no public deposit insurance charge or premium shall be paid out of the fund. The State Treasurer shall be liable on his official bond for the faithful performance of his duties in connection with the unemployment insurance fund provided for under this Chapter. Such liability on the official bond shall be effective immediately upon the enactment of this provision, and such liability shall exist in addition to any liability upon any separate bond existent on the effective date of this provision, or which may be given in the future. All sums recovered on any surety bond for losses sustained by the unemployment insurance fund shall be deposited in said fund.

(c)        Moneys shall be requisitioned from this State's account in the unemployment trust fund solely for the payment of benefits (including extended benefits) and in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commission. The Commission shall, from time to time, requisition from the unemployment trust fund such amounts, not exceeding the accounts standing to its account therein, as it deems necessary for the payment of benefits for a reasonable future period. Upon receipt thereof the treasurer shall deposit such moneys in the benefit account and shall pay all warrants drawn thereon as provided in G.S. 143B‑426.40G and requisitioned by the Commission for the payment of benefits solely from such benefit account. Expenditures of such moneys in the benefit account and refunds from the clearing account shall not be subject to approval of the Budget Bureau or any provisions of law requiring specific appropriations or other formal release by State officers of money in their custody. All warrants issued upon the treasurer for the payment of benefits and refunds shall be issued as provided in G.S. 143B‑426.40G as requisitioned by the chairman of the Commission or a duly authorized agent of the Commission for that purpose. Any balance of moneys requisitioned from the unemployment trust fund which remains unclaimed or unpaid in the benefit account after the expiration of the period for which such sums were requisitioned shall either be deducted from estimates for, and may be utilized for the payment of, benefits during succeeding periods, or, in the discretion of the Commission, shall be redeposited with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America, to the credit of this State's account in the unemployment trust fund, as provided in subsection (b) of this section.

(d)        Management of Funds upon Discontinuance of Unemployment Trust Fund. – The provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c), to the extent that they relate to the unemployment trust fund, shall be operative only so long as such unemployment trust fund continues to exist, and so long as the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America continues to maintain for this State a separate book account of all funds deposited therein by this State for benefit purposes, together with this State's proportionate share of the earnings of such unemployment trust fund, from which no other state is permitted to make withdrawals. If and when such unemployment trust fund ceases to exist, or such separate book account is no longer maintained, all moneys, properties, or securities therein belonging to the Unemployment Insurance Fund of this State shall be transferred to the treasurer of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, who shall hold, invest, transfer, sell, deposit, and release such moneys, properties, or securities in a manner approved by the Commission, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter: Provided, that such moneys shall be invested in the following readily marketable classes of securities: Bonds or other interest‑bearing obligations of the United States of America or such investments as are now permitted by law for sinking funds of the State of North Carolina; and provided further, that such investment shall at all times be so made that all the assets of the fund shall always be readily convertible into cash when needed for the payment of benefits. The treasurer shall dispose of securities or other properties belonging to the Unemployment Insurance Fund only under the direction of the Commission.

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

(f)         Any interest required to be paid on advances under Title XII of the Social Security Act shall 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).)