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State officials outline $215M plan to shield employers from pandemic UI rate spikes
Summary
AEDC and Workforce Services told the committee Q2 2020 pandemic claims totaled roughly $210M and proposed reclassifying prior CARES Act transfers and requesting an additional $50M to deem $215M a voluntary trust contribution so employer UI rates would not jump in 2021.
Mike Preston, secretary of commerce and executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, and Dr. Charice Childers, head of the Department of Workforce Services, briefed the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on the pandemic’s effect on the state unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund and offered an administrative solution to blunt employer rate increases.
Preston summarized the problem: Q2 2020 — the early pandemic peak — generated roughly $210 million in UI charges against employers. The committee previously approved a $165 million CARES Act appropriation to stabilize the fund; Preston and Childers told lawmakers that DWS can administratively reclassify ($165M)…
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