Lawmakers hear competing proposals to shore up Ohio unemployment trust fund; HB 321 would raise taxable wage base and add narrow employee charge

Representative Peterson told the Public Insurance and Pensions Committee that House Bill 321 aims to extend the solvency of Ohio’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund by raising the taxable wage base and creating a new employee participation charge that would apply only when workers are employed by negatively rated employers.

“Unemployment compensation has to be gotten right because we do not want a system that overcharges employers…we also need to provide the assistance that individuals who work in the state lose their jobs and are unemployed through no fault of their own,” Representative Peterson said in sponsor testimony.

The bill’s two principal elements, as described to the committee, are: restoring the taxable wage base to $9,500 (it reverted from $9,500 back to $9,000 after a brief earlier increase) and creating an employer contribution fund that collects 0.14% of an employee’s wages…