More Troubling Financial News for West Virginia

The man in charge of handing out benefits to jobless West Virginians warns that the state is hurtling toward a crisis, The Associated Press reports.

Unemployment Compensation Director Mike Moore cites escalating claims and sputtering revenues to invoke the bad old days of the 1980s, when the benefits fund went bankrupt.

Moore "predicted that jobless benefits will exceed $300 million in 2009. It began March with slightly more than $200 million," AP reports.

Gov. Joe Manchin has proposed reviving some of the tax-like assessments that helped West Virginia climb out of its 1980s hole. The pending measure would trigger those payments from employers and workers once the fund's balance slips below $180 million. But Moore expects the fund to descend to that depth "before April, and the governor’s bill would not take effect until July 1 — if it passes," AP reports.

While Moore calls the situation "dire," West Virginia's trust fund is faring better than most others, the article said. Eleven states have borrowed federal funds to avoid insolvency to their funds, while the balances of 23 other states have declined more rapidly than West Virginia.