Committee hears testimony on House Bill 3 21 to bolster Ohio unemployment fund

At a meeting of the Ohio House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee, witnesses representing labor, policy groups and construction interests testified on House Bill 3 21, a package of changes intended to strengthen Ohio's unemployment compensation (UC) trust fund.

Policy and labor witnesses told the committee the state's UC tax base and rate structure have left the system underfunded; construction-industry witnesses warned that some proposed fixes could unduly harm employers that rely on seasonal layoffs.

Bailey Sandin, working wages fellow at Policy Matters Ohio, told the committee that Ohio’s taxable wage base has been stuck at $9,000 for roughly 30 years and that the bill’s proposed rise to $9,500 is “way too low.” Sandin said, “The solution to Ohio's under financing of the system lies heavily in modernizing our tax system.” She also said Ohio’s eligibility rules are stringent: a worker must earn an average of about $338 per week across at least 20 weeks to qualify, and that “hundreds of thousands of Ohio workers will never be eligible for benefits if they…