Maryland labor officials brief Economic Matters Committee on $1.9 billion unemployment trust fund, modeling and proposals

Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Portia Wu told the Economic Matters Committee on Jan. 16 that the state's Unemployment Insurance trust fund had a balance of about $1.9 billion and that department staff used a U.S. Department of Labor model to forecast how long that balance could sustain benefit payments under different unemployment scenarios.

"The current balance of the trust fund is $1,900,000,000 so it is in good shape," Secretary Portia Wu said, and she later added, "We have a situation where we have a gap. We have a structural funding deficit in unemployment insurance." Secretary Wu and the department's chief labor economist, Mike Sires, briefed the committee on the average high cost multiple, the department's key solvency metric.

The nut graff: The briefing combined a solvency snapshot with modeling of policy options. Officials said the trust fund's current strength is supported by historically low unemployment and one-time federal assistance, but long-term pressures ' including a capped taxable wage base, rising average benefit payments and federal limits on administrative reimbursement ' could reduce the fund's capacity during future…