Billions of dollars are going to be pumped into the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, but there is no guarantee the money will solve the fund’s problems. A special legislative commission set up to find solutions to the long-term problems that have plagued the fund was unable to come to any consensus last week, which […]
unemployment insurance
Posted inState Government
What derailed unemployment insurance commission?
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS are going to be pumped into the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, but there is no guarantee the money will solve the fund’s problems. A special legislative commission set up to find solutions to the long-term problems that have plagued the fund was unable to come to any consensus last week, which […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker administration offers UI overpayment relief
THE STATE’S DEPARTMENT of Unemployment Assistance will be in touch with Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Unemployment Insurance claimants in the coming days to detail state and federal relief options that the Baker administration said Thursday would resolve about $1.6 billion or roughly 71 percent of overpayments. There are about 353,000 outstanding cases of workers who […]
Posted inUncategorized
State seeks OK to forgive UI overpayments
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Thursday asked US Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to intervene and grant Massachusetts permission to forgive wide swaths of overpaid unemployment benefits, warning that state workers will need to process hundreds of thousands of individual applications without federal action. In the latest step to untangle a messy financial […]
Posted inUncategorized
Lawmakers urge pause on pursuing collections
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A PAIR OF TOP legislators on Friday urged the Baker administration to halt pursuing overpaid unemployment benefits for the next five-plus months, calling for more time to untangle a complicated financial situation. Rep. Josh Cutler and Sen. Patricia Jehlen, the co-chairs of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee, said they believe […]
Posted inUncategorized
Report indicates UI trust fund warnings overstated
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION released a long-awaited report on New Year’s Eve indicating the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund is in much better shape than expected. After issuing warnings earlier this year about huge deficits that needed to be offset with an infusion of billions of dollars, the report said the actual deficit as of November […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker administration remains vague on UI holdup
Despite growing pressure from Republican and Democratic legislators, the Baker administration is continuing to offer vague statements on why it is having difficulty producing a financial accounting of the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund. No monthly report on the trust fund has been issued since June and administration officials have provided no clarity on what […]
Posted inEconomy
No answers yet on unemployment insurance trust fund
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION said on Monday that it still hasn’t completed a financial accounting of the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund and may not be ready with one anytime soon. At a virtual meeting of a commission set up to recommend changes in the way the state handles unemployment insurance, several members of the panel […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker: $500m for unemployment insurance fund not debatable
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Tuesday said putting the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund on sound footing requires a $500 million infusion from the state’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funding and a still undetermined amount of money from a $7 billion bond authorization. At a press conference in Watertown, Baker addressed the financial status of the […]
Posted inEconomy
Business leader ‘confused’ by unemployment insurance revelations
THE PRESIDENT and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce says the business community was caught off guard just like everyone else by the news that the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund may be in far better financial shape than anyone thought. “I’d say we’re confused and waiting for information,” said Jim Rooney. Rooney […]