There was standing room only at the 4/21 briefing about Unemployment Compensation–modernization and solvency. You can see the entire presentation on the Policy Matters Ohio website but the two most important points were: 1) Ohio needs to take steps to modernize its unemployment compensation system, such as allowing jobless Ohioans who have met all the other requirements for UC to qualify if they are seeking part-time employment. Ohio can obtain $176 million from the federal government if it takes such steps, as many other states already have. AND 2) Ohio’s UC trust fund is broke not just because a lot of people are receiving benefits. Most states kept taxes so low that their reserves were weak, and Ohio did this to a greater degree than most. A key part of the solution is to increase the share of wages that is taxed, currently just the first $9,000 of each worker’s annual earnings.
Filed under: Unemployment |
Leave a Reply