Employment Security outlines staffing, trust fund health and paid family leave details

George Cabanas, commissioner of the Department of Employment Security, briefed the committee on the agency’s funding, staffing and program work, saying the department receives no general fund support for core operations and relies primarily on federal grants and employer assessments to run unemployment insurance, employment services and labor market information.

Cabanas said the department’s full‑time staff total is 282 (the hearing included a discussion that some permanent vacancies exceed that number when temporary positions are excluded) and that the agency reached a staffing high of about 355 during the pandemic. He told the panel the department has adjusted its staffing and operations since the pandemic and is now below pre‑pandemic claim levels.

Unemployment trust fund and employer tax details

The commissioner said the unemployment trust fund balance is about $388,500,000 and that the state received $109,000,000 in CARES Act pandemic funding to shore up reserves during the COVID‑19 emergency. He…