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Workforce Solutions asks LFC for funding to shore up unemployment insurance, rejoin federal offset program and sustain housing investments
Summary
Secretary Sarita Nair told the Legislative Finance Committee the department needs nonrecurring and recurring funding to restore anti‑fraud tools and staffing for unemployment insurance, rejoin the Treasury Offset Program to recover estimated federal dollars, and continue housing and homelessness investments tied to a proposed housing fund.
Sarita Nair, secretary of the Department of Workforce Solutions, asked the Legislative Finance Committee for a mix of nonrecurring and recurring funding to stabilize unemployment insurance operations, preserve frontline workforce services and maintain housing investments.
Nair said the department originally requested larger amounts but reduced several asks after receiving special‑session funding. She described a nonrecurring request to the unemployment insurance fund intended to replace federal anti‑fraud grants and restore call center and adjudication capacity, and a separate nonrecurring $2,502,808 request to rejoin the federal Treasury Offset Program (TOP). “If we get back in, we're estimating $13,000,000 of annual revenue from getting back into the program,” Nair said, framing TOP as an investment that could pay for itself quickly by recovering reciprocal federal payments.
The department also seeks $3,000,000 nonrecurring to cover cuts to WIOA allotments and pass money through to four local workforce boards, and $2,000,000 nonrecurring to maintain AmeriCorps programming if federal funding is eliminated. Nair said the administration is developing a housing and homelessness fund concept to provide predictable, multi‑year support and allow annual appropriations to multiple agencies for affordable housing, site readiness, infrastructure and services; she described ongoing work with local governments and an upcoming public investment tracker that will show where funds are deployed and units created.
Committee members pressed for additional detail on ROI and asked about options to create a one‑door model for SNAP and Medicaid work‑search. Nair said integrating those services would require structural changes—“you would need to move 1 to the other or move both into some other place”—but pointed to Utah’s cross‑program model as an example. Members also asked how earmarked allocations for cities and counties were determined; Nair said the department followed local governments’ stated priorities when distributing the $110 million housing pot and that an RFP for the remaining affordable housing money is closed but not yet awarded.
The discussion ranged from administrative IT costs for TOP re‑entry to apprenticeship and workforce training funding tied to public works revenue. Several members noted the importance of measurable returns and asked for county‑level allocation breakdowns and an ROI presentation tied to the department’s investment tracker.
