An article by Lesley Stedman Weidenbener in the Louisville Courier Journal reports that the state will be borrowing up to $330 million to pay for unemployment benefits through January. The fund has $21 million in it while the average monthly benefit pay out is $66 million.
“It’s a big problem that has to be dealt with,” said Sen. Dennis Kruse, chairman of the Pensions and Labor Committee, who is part of the group. “It’s one of those harsh realities of our government and business climate today and we’ve got to do something to solve it.”
That could involve changing who’s eligible for unemployment benefits, raising the taxes employers pay into the system or reducing weekly benefits to those who are out of work, said Kruse, R-Auburn. The answer will likely be a combination of the three, he said.
. . .
In 2000, employers paid $277 million in taxes, and interest contributed another $103 million to the fund. The department paid out $259 million in benefits.But since 2001, the fund has operated at a deficit. Last year, the state paid $172 million more in claims than employers paid in premiums. For the first 10 months of this year, the gap was $242 million.
Not good news.
Call me stupid, but surely we could approach this in a better way. How about having the state contract a company to open a couple windmill and solar panel factories here in Indiana and EMPLOY these people?
I realize that people need unemployment $$$ now, but we need to stop thinking in this short term mindset. If we have unemployed people, then we should invest the money into employing them and building something productive, not paying them to not work.