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Committee presses DEW director on $590M reserve, tax-setting and 5‑year rebuild plan
Summary
Lawmakers questioned DEW Director Cheryl Stanton about a reported $590 million unemployment-insurance reserve, how the statutorily based reserve formula affects employer tax rates, and projections that the reserve target could approach $946–970 million by 2020.
Lawmakers pressed Cheryl Stanton on the state unemployment-insurance trust fund and how the department sets employer taxes under a statutorily based formula. Stanton told the Labor, Commerce and Industry committee that the trust fund had a balance of "over $590,000,000 as of April 30," described the statutory multiplier used to calculate the reserve target and gave projections that the required reserve could rise to between $946,000,000 and $970,000,000 by 2020 depending on taxable wages.
Members repeatedly asked whether the April 30 figure included late employer tax payments received in mid‑May; Stanton said those payments are often still in process and promised updated numbers within days. She described the annual timing: September is the typical balance reference point for setting next year's tax rates and said the department monitors claims and benefit payouts weekly (currently about $2.8–$3.0 million per week) and will notify the legislature if trends threaten the fund. Lawmakers said they wanted earlier visibility into collections and rates to avoid large year‑five tax increases for employers.
