MA 8-7 Form Instructions

Attachment II
Instructions for Completing the Form MA 8-7
1. Material to be Submitted.
a. Statutory Material – Proposed and Enacted Legislation. Amendments pertaining to
the establishment and operation of the UC law and UC program are required to be
submitted. For purposes of conformity, the state’s UC law includes statutes that affect the
administration and the interpretation of the state’s UC law, even though the statute may
not be part of the state’s UC code. For example, if an amendment made to a state law
other than the UC code classifies a worker as an employee or independent contractor for
UC purposes, the legislation is part of the state’s UC law and must be submitted for
review.
Submitting proposed legislation assists the Department in providing early assistance to the
states in identifying and preventing issues. States should submit proposed legislation as
soon as it becomes available and provide comment on the proposal’s chance for passage
with a request for an expedited review and comment, if appropriate.
Exception: Introduced and enacted state legislation are available to the Department
through an automated legislative reporting service for all states except Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands. States with information that is made available through this reporting
service are not required to submit introduced and enacted legislation, although states are
encouraged to advise the Department as soon as possible of bills likely to be enacted.
Note this exception does not pertain to amendments to a bill after it has been introduced.
These amendments must be submitted.
b. Rules and Regulations – Proposed and Final. All proposed and final rules and
regulations that implement or interpret the UC law or other laws affecting the UC program
must be submitted. These rules and regulations may pertain to matters such as covered
employment, employer records and required reports, contributions, benefit eligibility and
interpretation, and claims filing and processing.
As in the case of statutory amendments, submitting proposed rules for Departmental
review assures any problems are identified and resolved early in the rulemaking process.
Exception: As is the case with state legislation, proposed and final rules are generally
available to the Department through an automated legislative reporting service for all
states except Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. States with information that is made
available through this reporting service are not required to submit proposed and final
rules.
c. Official Interpretations. All official interpretations of any provision of the UC law
made by representatives of the state agency or other state agency must be submitted for
review. These include administrative policy statements concerning the interpretation of any

-2provision of the UC law, which may include guidance to field staff, any letters giving
opinions on questions of general application of the provision of state laws or regulations to
third parties, as well as all opinions of the state Attorney General expressing the official
interpretation of any state UC statute, amendment or regulation.
d. Decisions and Orders Issued by State Courts, including Material Related to Consent
Orders. All decisions and orders issued by state courts involving UC benefits and taxes
must be submitted for review to ensure that interpretation of state law does not conflict
with Federal law. Copies of the administrative decision reviewed are to be included in the
submission. All court cases should be submitted, even if the state determines these are not
precedent-setting.
States are also to submit proposed consent orders. As in the case of proposed laws and
regulations, reviewing these proposed orders allows the Department to identify and assist
in resolving any issues under Federal law.
Exception: States should not submit decisions or orders that are issued without an opinion
or analysis. These include cases where a court dismisses an appeal for a party’s failure to
pursue the case or affirms an administrative ruling without decision.
Federal court matters are not covered under this submittal requirement as they pertain to
Federal interpretations of Federal law. States should immediately advise the Department
when a matter involving Federal UC law, including the conformity provisions of FUTA
and the SSA, reaches Federal court so that the Department may determine whether Federal
participation in the case is desirable or necessary.
e. Precedential Administrative Decisions. The decisions issued by the first and
second level appeals authorities that are considered precedent-setting must be submitted so
that the Department may ascertain whether the interpretation of state law is consistent with
Federal UC law.
f. Appellate Decisions in Federal UC programs . Decisions pertaining to the UCFE,
UCX, and TAA/TRA programs that are based on an interpretation of the Federal laws or
regulations must be submitted; decisions based on state law need not be submitted. For
example, a state need not submit a decision applying a state law’s “able and available”
provisions pertaining to these programs.
It is expected that very few UCFE and UCX decisions will be submitted since most issues
that are adjudicated for UCFE/UCX benefits are based on the states’ UI laws, including
separation issues for UCFE; states do not adjudicate separations from military service for
UCX claims.

-3When it is appropriate to submit a decision based on an interpretation of Federal laws or
regulations, in all cases where second level decisions are submitted, include the lower
authority decision that was reviewed.
Note: Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) appeals material should not be submitted
using the MA 8-7. The state agencies are to submit a copy of any appeal decision issued to
the appropriate Regional Administrator (RA). The RA will then submit these appeal
decisions as appropriate to the National Office. See 20 CFR 625.10(b)(2).
The Department reserves the right to obtain additional information, as needed, for these
Federal UC programs.
2. Submission Requirements.
a. Use of separate forms. To assure that information related to Federal UC programs
(UCFE, UCX, and TAA/TRA) is properly routed, material relating to these programs
should not be included with material relating to the administration of the state’s law.
Otherwise, material may be bundled together.
b. Fill out the Form MA 8-7 completely. Fill in the “From” section of the form, identify
the type of material that is being submitted, and sign the form. If appropriate, briefly
describe the material in the comments section of the form.
c. Time frame for Submission. The MA 8-7 is not required to be submitted on a specific
time frame. Instead, it is to be used only when the state has material to submit.
However, states should submit material promptly to allow for Departmental review prior
to the expiration of time frames for appeal or legislative action.
d. Address. The address for submittal is preprinted on the MA 8-7 as follows:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Office of Workforce Security
Room S-4231
200 Constitution Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20210