Shortly after the bill was written, Senator Bramble contacted me in an effort to amend the bill and make some minor improvements related to the way the state negotiates settlements with businesses to are defunct but owe money to the state at the time of their demise. We agreed that the best way to do that would be to write an entirely new bill and run it through the Senate initially. HB30 became SB129.
Today, I presented SB129 to the House floor for a vote.
The bill now moves on to the Governor's office for a signature and implementation. If you are a business owner, look forward to lower taxes this year.
What I am most worried about is when the unemployment insurance runs out of money the state will look to increase the base amount paid by all employers to keep it solvent. If this is the case, your bill will have just shifted the burden to those who have used it the least to pay for those who use it the most. I have been an employer for 20 years and had one claim for $500. My insurance fee has gone up 500% since 2008. All employers are not the same, why should I have to pay for other employers mistakes? This is socialism at its worst. Louis Meyer
ReplyDeleteLouis/Amy,
ReplyDeleteThe Unemployment Insurance program is a big math equation. Taxes - Admin Expense = Benefits
The volume of benefits being distributed is less because our unemployment rate has been going down. Therefore the amount of taxes required is commensurately less. It is reasonable to say that if unemployment went up then the tax rate would need to be raised...UNLESS the benefit was redefined to a smaller amount or for a shorter period. This is the fight we get to have next year when the tax break is up for negotiation again. I support decreasing the benefit in the off chance the Department of Workforce Services recommends a rate increase.