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Panel presses DEW on $590M trust balance, reserve targets and employer rates
Summary
Lawmakers questioned DEW Director Cheryl Stanton about the unemployment insurance trust fund, April 30 balance of about $590 million, statutory reserve formula and the tax-setting process that aims to reach a $946M–$970M reserve by 2020.
Committee members drilled into numbers and statutory mechanics after Stanton cited the April 30 trust-fund snapshot. Stanton said the agency calculates required reserve levels using the last three worst recessions and the taxable wage base; she gave a mid-range projection for 2020 of between $946,000,000 and $970,000,000. Members asked whether the current rebuild schedule risks overburdening employers.
Stanton explained the state sets rates annually with input from federal sources and uses projections to balance benefit payouts and reserve rebuilding. She told the panel that DEW monitors benefits weekly and that "We're hovering at about 2.8 to 3000000 dollars in benefit payouts a week." The committee discussed timing sensitivities because September balances inform the next year's tax-setting.
