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State To Pay Off $250 Million Balance On Unemployment Insurance Loan

Harrison Wagner
/
WTIU

In the coming days, the state will pay off the remainder of a federal unemployment insurance loan.  The governor says it will save employers $327 million next year.  

The state’s unemployment insurance trust fund ran out of money when the recession hit, forcing Indiana (like many others) to take out the loan. As long as there’s still money left to be paid back on the unemployment insurance loan, employers pay a penalty, one that would increase next year to $126 per employee. 

Governor Mike Pence says the state will temporarily shift money from its General Fund to pay off the remaining $250 million left on the loan, saving employers from paying that penalty.

“By paying this off early," he says, "we believe that we’re going to free up resources for the kind of investments by business owners, large and small, that will put Hoosiers back to work.”

Anne Sellers is the managing principal of Sensory Technologies, where Pence made the announcement.  She says eliminating the penalty will save her business nearly $10 thousand next year...not enough, she admits, to add new employees.

“Quite frankly, when unemployment’s low everybody wants a little bit more money while they’re here," she explains. "So $10 thousand is going to help give some raises.”

Pence says the state will use money from unemployment insurance taxes collected early next year to replace the General Fund dollars used to pay off the federal loan.  

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
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