Governor John Bel Edwards sent a letter to Louisiana’s congressional delegation asking them to consider funding the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund before the money runs out in less than seven weeks.
"I have very serious concerns about the solvency of the Trust Fund and the need for federal assistance to make sure Louisiana can continue to pay out unemployment benefits without undue burdens on Louisiana businesses,” Governor Edwards said in a social media post. “Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Louisiana’s Unemployment Trust Fund was the 17th strongest in the nation.”
Edwards says on the state’s current financial trajectory, Louisiana will need to borrow from the federal government as early as September in order to replenish the fund and continue to pay state unemployment benefits to Louisiana workers.
“Just as importantly, if the trust fund falls below a balance of $100 million, Louisiana law mandates that the Louisiana Workforce Commission to impose a surtax on businesses of up to 30% on taxable payroll,” said Edwards. He says taxing businesses would be a last resort if Congress doesn’t intervene. If the fund drops below $100 million the weekly amount payed to unemployeed workers will also drop from $247 to $221 before ending completly because the money ran out.
The Louisiana Workforce Commission has paid out $51.5 million in Unemployment Benefits to workers since the statrt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
