Manchin Kinda Proposes a Tax Hike

Gov. Joe Manchin has sent the Legislature a measure that would hit up both employers and workers if the state's unemployment compensation fund loses too much money.

As The Associated Press reports, the governor's bill would "restore a temporary assessment provision last triggered after the unemployment compensation fund suffered insolvency in the 1980s."

That mechanism, dormant since 1990, would add a 0.5 percent-of-payroll charge to the tax of sorts that employers already pay into the fund. Workers would see a slight percentage withheld from their wages for the fund as well. Weekly benefit levels would also freeze during these temporary hikes.

"The governor's legislation proposes to reactivate those payment increases if the fund dips below $180 million by the end of any quarter," AP reports. "But West Virginia's fund may hit that red zone well before his bill would take effect July 1, if it passes, even without the expected rise in unemployment."

AP explains that "West Virginia's fund ended January with a $213.9 million balance, after paying $18.4 million in benefits that month. It declined by a similar amount the previous month. At that rate, the fund would fall below $180 million by March."

The assessments would cease once the fund balance exceeds $250 million, according to the bill.