State officials, employers and legislators weigh options to raise unemployment benefits and modernize administration

Legislators asked the Department of Employment Security and other stakeholders how to raise the state’s weekly unemployment benefits without destabilizing the trust fund or creating perverse work disincentives.

Rich Labors, Deputy Commissioner for Employment Security, described implementation options and fiscal modeling the department performs. Labors said the department prefers adjustments that keep the same type of calculation based on base‑period earnings because changes that require individualized percentage calculations would need larger IT work. “As long as we’re looking at base period earnings and covered employment, and then we’re tying that to a weekly benefit amount, that is the easiest for the department to implement,” Labors said.

Labors summarized current program metrics: the statutory maximum weekly benefit cited in committee materials was $427 (for base period earnings at $41,500), the taxable wage base is $14,000, employers pay on average about $85 per employee annually under current rates, and the state’s unemployment trust fund balance was reported…