It’s thought that if the state went into a recession now, its unemployment compensation fund wouldn’t be able to pay laid-off workers for more than a few weeks. But there’s still been no progress on a bill that’s touted as a way to fix the fund. These hearings have become routine with many still waiting for action.
A House committee held its 20th hearing on HB382 that would try to bring the state’s unemployment compensation fund to solvency.
The measure has been criticized by business and labor groups but so far there have been no changes.
Don Boyd with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce says the bill puts too much burden on employers to pay into the pot while not doing enough to cut from the spending side.
“If nothing gets done, if nothing gets passed, benefits will stay exactly the same and at the end of the day that doesn’t provide a whole lot of incentive for the other side to negotiate on a lot of these issues,” said Boyd.
But the AFL-CIO contends that, while the bill raises employer taxes, it still sits far below the national average of what businesses pay and says benefit costs are not the main contributor to the fund’s insolvency.
