HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio) - During an informational forum before the legislature's Appropriations Committee, Acting Labor Commissioner Dante Bartolomeo briefed lawmakers on efforts to repay the federal government for money borrowed for the Unemployment Trust Fund.
After recently using $200 million in federal money to pay down the debt, the state's contribution is currently $532 million, Bartolomeo said.
"Typically, we have about 40-thousand (unemployment) filers. We had up to 400,000 in May of 2020. We're down to about 50,000 right now. That's for regular unemployment and the extended benefit program," she said.
When pressed about using American Rescue Plan money to further retire unemployment fund debt, Bartolomeo responded by saying her office would seek guidance from the Office of Policy and Management.
That prompted this response from Cathy Osten, Chair of the Appropriations Committee: "You can certainly act in concert, but that would have to come back to the legislature. The legislature did the analysis on whether to pay off interest or not. Long-term by paying down what we owe creates less interest to be paid, and so before anybody makes any real decisions, that should come back to the legislature with discussion."
The Trust Fund is paid by employers' taxes. The last time the fund was solvent was 1999.