State might tap disability fund to pay unemployment
7:12 AM Wed, Jan 14, 2009 | Permalink
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This would mark the second time since October the Carcieri administration tapped into the disability fund to pay state bills. Laura Hart, the chief spokeswoman for the state's Department of Labor & Training, refused comment yesterday on the financial health of the unemployment-compenstaion fund. She said the department would have no comment until after the hearing. Late last year, state labor officials acknowledged that increasing unemployment in Rhode Island was draining the fund that the state maintains to pay unemployment benefits. If the trend continued, they said, the state might need need to seek a federal bailout to keep benefits flowing, But they raised a concern about going that route because a bailout, in the form of a loan from the federal government to the unemployment insurance trust fund, could trigger a hike in unemployment taxes for employers - on top of the one they already face next year. It is not yet clear whether a loan from the state's own TDI fund would avert that. 
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Once again...the State is stealing from one fund to cover losses in another. What next? Take money from the schools? RI just can't manage money...in this economy or any other! It's a sorry state....
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This is a good example why goverment shall stay away from this kind of things. Everyone in RI is force to pay unemployment which is automatically deducted off each paycheck. How do you explain that while roughly 92% of the workforce is currently getting deducted this money, there is not enough to pay for the 8% unemployed? Oh...wait... I know the answer, most of it goes to running this department expenses, benefits, payroll, and so on. A total waste of money.
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Hey John. You should work for the government. Clearly you know nothing about economics. First off, the unemployment rate in RI is at 9.3%. Way to keep on top of data but then again I think the Gov. would have also been 5 months behind. Second, even if 8% were unemployed, that doesn't mean that 92% are working in the state. Not EVERYONE pays for unemployment. People who are employed are people who currently working and people who are included in the unemployment rate are people who are SEARCHING for work. That doesn't mean that all housewives (or homemakers to be less discriminate) or many students or retired people are in the unemployment rate. That wouldn't make any sense. The workforce in RI (the combination of those working and those seeking work) generally consists of only 570,000 people.
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To Jay 7:28 am posting,
Jay just checking to see if you read the entire article? As I read it the first loan from the TDI fund was to make a promised school-aid payment. We don't have to worry about the State taking money from the schools, they have none! The schools are sucking the money out of every other fund and this needs to stop and stop now! End state mandates immediately, get real and screw the no child left behind B.S. and tell each department and town to live within a budget. I for one pay into the TDI benefit would be six shades of pissed off if I were to be injured and then denied TDI benefits because the fund was depleted to feed the vacuum cleaner that our school systems have become!
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Well,has the state paid back the $25M or hasn't it? If not ,no more borrowing peter tp apy Paul.
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When people complain about teachers and state workers and their excessive sick time allocations is,one of the first things the teachers and state workers say is, "Well we don't have the benefit of TDI". The state should put these people in the TDI system start and shore up that fund for future lending.
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