During the State Budget Committee meeting last week, it was confirmed that the federal government does consider reimbursement to the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund as an eligible expense for CARES Act funds.
There is approximately $700 million remaining from what was provided to Indiana for dealing with COVID-19. This means that some of those dollars could be used for the UI trust fund. The Chamber is lobbying the administration to do just that.
It has been reported that the state will borrow between $300 and $400 million by the end of the year to meet UI claim obligations. The borrowed funds are interest free until the end of the year unless Congress moves to extend that into next year. This does have some bearing on the state administration’s decision as to whether to use those resources for the UI trust fund.
The most recent week of available data (October 10) shows that the trust fund paid nearly $21 million in benefits for that period. The somewhat good news is that, by comparison, this is less than for the same week of the 2009 Great Recession ($25 million in claims).
Resource: Mike Ripley at (317) 264-6883 or email: mripley@indianachamber.com
