Ohio's fund for jobless claims could run dry next year

[marmar]

from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:



Ohio's fund for jobless claims could run dry next year
Posted by Tom Breckenridge July 21, 2008 03:37AM



Employers and the unemployed both are likely to suffer if Ohio is to stave off a looming crisis in its unemployment compensation fund, officials say.

"It's not generating and replenishing itself at a rate that can maintain the integrity of the fund," said Dennis Evans, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, which oversees the fund.

The fund could run dry early next year, potentially forcing the state to squeeze more tax revenue from businesses and to freeze benefits for laid-off workers, officials say.

Rising layoffs in an economy that never recovered from the 2001 recession have overwhelmed a system already in need of an overhaul.

Ohioans receiving unemployment compensation shouldn't fret. They'll keep receiving checks even if the state funds runs dry. That's because the state would then borrow from the federal government. But if it doesn't pay off the debt quickly, Ohio could face costly interest charges.

Ohio's unemployment-compensation trust fund bottomed out before.

In the 1980s, Ohio had to borrow from the U. S. Treasury and ended up paying $264 million in interest. The state jacked up tax rates on employers in the aftermath.

Since 1995, Ohio businesses have been taxed on the first $9,000 in employee wages. The tax rates vary, depending in part on a company's account balance in the trust fund. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/07/ohios_jobless_claims_fund_coul.html

[hobbit709]

1. Ohio's not the only state

That certainly doesn't jibe with idiot son saying the economy is doing fine.