Baker signs bill addressing UI rate relief, paid COVID leave
BOSTON (SHNS) – Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday signed legislation that will allow businesses to avoid steep spikes in unemployment insurance taxes this spring and summer by spreading the cost over the next 20 years, but the administration and lawmakers still face pressure to use federal relief funds to remove some of that burden from employers.
“It creates a new, predictable and stable formula to address recoveries related to COVID-19 claims,” Baker said, announcing he had signed the bill.
The new law is the second attempt by the Legislature and administration to mitigate the cost to businesses of replenishing the unemployment insurance system that was emptied during the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses closed and workers lost their jobs in droves.
While the first attempt overlooked increases in what are known as solvency fund assessments, the new law allows the state to cover those costs as part of its plan to borrow up to $7 billion to pay benefit claims and give businesses two decades to slowly repay the system.
Read more: https://www.wwlp.com/news/state-politics/baker-signs-bill-addressing-ui-rate-relief-paid-covid-leave/