The unemployment trust fund has dropped below 100 million dollars and starting next year that will likely mean reduced benefits for recipients and higher taxes on businesses.
Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Dejoie said should we still be below 100 million next year the maximum weekly benefit will be reduced to $221 dollars from the current $247 dollars, but the state has completed the process to begin borrowing money from the feds to keep unemployment checks flowing, so there’s no concern that the benefits will cease due to a lack of funds.
Dejoie said when it comes to higher taxes on employers each employer has their own experience rating with the trust fund, and so it’s hard to say exactly how much a given company’s payroll taxes would increase, but it’s safe to say that employer taxes would go up “significantly”.
Dejoie said because of the dual-threat to both the unemployed and employers it’s vital that Congress include unemployment trust fund relief in the next pandemic relief bill.
“Obviously we are hoping on Congress to take action to assist states and individuals as we all collectively deal with the impacts from COVID,” said Dejoie.
The Revenue Estimating Conference meeting is set to meet September 30th to discuss and verify the status of the trust fund.
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