In August, Governor Charlie Baker filed a supplemental budget bill that included $1 billion to help replenish the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The bill will now head to the House and Senate, with both chambers planning to reconvene session later this month.
Currently, the UI Trust Fund is experiencing a $7 billion deficit due to pandemic-related layoffs. The depleting of the fund resulted in higher UI tax bills for many small business owners, prompting lawmakers to address both rate schedules and solvency fees. But the “fix” only amortized the $7 billion cost to employers over a 20-year span.
NFIB has led the effort to request elected officials use state and federal funds to shore-up the UI Trust Fund and provide tax relief for employers. Now that federal pandemic unemployment benefits have expired, it is time for Massachusetts residents to return to the workforce and help fill the many open positions in small businesses across the Commonwealth to prevent this UI crisis from worsening.