Elected Officials and Business Leaders Call for Unemployment Insurance Relief in State Budget
March 28th, 2022
ALBANY, NY – Several employer-based organizations including Upstate United, NFIB of NY, the Business Council of New York State, New York Farm Bureau, the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of Westchester, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, New York Association of Convenience Stores, the New York Insurance Association and ABC Empire State Chapter were joined by members of the Assembly to advocate for unemployment insurance relief (UI) in this year’s state budget.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 2 million New Yorkers were unemployed. As a result, the state’s UI fund ran out of money and New York ultimately borrowed $11.9 billion from the federal government to cover its UI payments. While some of that money has been repaid, New York still owes Washington $9 billion. Additionally, the state’s UI fund – which is currently insolvent – must be replenished.
In light of this extraordinary situation, representatives from leading business organizations and elected officials called on state leaders to address this crisis in the state budget through an allocation of $2 billion.
“Unemployment insurance taxes are crushing small businesses desperately trying to recover from the pandemic’s devastating economic toll,” said Ashley Ranslow, state director of NFIB/NY. “These enormous UI taxes will continue to escalate for our Main Street, independent businesses for years to come if New York State does not take steps to address the federal government’s $9 billion loan. Our elected leaders cannot continue to ignore this problem. Allocating money to UI in this year’s budget is the only way for New York State to dig itself out of this hole and provide vital relief to small business owners.”
“Upstate employers simply can’t afford to take a $9 billion hit associated with the state’s unemployment insurance debt. Struggling business owners are already facing supply chain problems, labor shortages and rising costs due to inflation,” said Justin Wilcox, executive director of Upstate United. “Governor Hochul and legislative leaders should tap federal aid in this year’s budget to tackle this looming crisis. Failure to act will stifle our economic recovery for years to come.”
“Small businesses are facing steep and sustained increases in the cost of Unemployment Insurance – even if none of their employees were laid off during the pandemic shutdowns. These increased costs depress hiring and lead to increased costs to consumers,” said Assemblymember Carrie Woerner. “Using a portion of the relief funds New York received from the Cares Act to pay down the debt NY incurred to cover the costs of UI during the crisis, will help reduce inflation for consumers and stimulate greater job growth in small businesses.”
The attendees of today’s event also called for the passage of S.6791A/A.7788 which would lower employers’ UI rates to pre-pandemic levels for two years. This bill, which passed the Senate earlier this year, is awaiting action in the Assembly. The measure is sponsored by Assemblymember Ken Zebrowski and has bipartisan support in the chamber.