Jobless Fund Bill Advances

A Senate-passed measure that aims to raise $147 million, mostly from employers, to avoid bankrupting the state's unemployment benefits fund faces one more hurdle before a House vote, The Associated Press reports.

The House Judiciary Committee amended the bill somewhat before advancing it to House Finance, leaving its revenue provisions intact.

"The fund’s primary revenue source is a tax on the first $8,000 of each worker’s wages. The bill would immediately increase that rate to the first $12,000," AP explains. "Proposed special assessments, meanwhile, each equal a fraction of one percent. On the state’s per-capita income of $30,831, for instance, the worker would pay $23.12 and the employer, $77.08."

But the state manufacturers association has emerged to oppose the bill, seeking instead alternative revenue sources. "Some committee members questioned the resulting drain on employers, who would account for all but about $21 million of (the $147 million) figure," the article said.

But Unemployment Compensation Director Michael Moore stressed the fund's dire outlook during Monday's committee meeting.

‘‘If we don’t do anything, we’re going to go broke, probably before the end of the year,’’ Moore told the committee. ‘‘Unless the economy turns around, I don’t think there’s any question about it.’’

West Virginia's fund went broke in the 1980s, and so far this year, "the troubled economy has bankrupted unemployment programs in 14 states, including neighboring Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania, forcing them to borrow federal funds totaling nearly $6 billion as of March 20," AP reports.

House Finance expects to hold a Wednesday public hearing for the bill. Others with coverage include The Charleston Gazette and The Register-Herald of Beckley.