St. Paul, MN - Only 11 days remain until the first-quarter unemployment insurance payments are due. Representative Brian Pfarr, R- Le Sueur, is urging action from House Democrats to fulfill their promise and take action to provide relief to Minnesota’s job creators.
“We had a solution weeks ago on the UI Trust Fund,” Pfarr said. “Instead, we were met with party politics and now, no movement. House Democrats owe it to Minnesota’s business owners to pass this bill.”
With a more than $9.25 billion surplus, Minnesota can more than afford to fill the Unemployment Trust Fund to solvency, reverse the tax increases on employers, and stop Minnesota from having to pay $50,000 a day in interest to the federal government. House Democrats originally downplayed the original March 15 deadline, insisting that lawmakers had until April 30 when tax bills were due to take action.
The Minnesota Senate passed a bill to refill the UI trust fund on February 14 on a broadly bipartisan 55-11 vote. Replenishing the UI Trust Fund enjoys broad support from Gov. Walz, House Republicans, Senate Republicans, and Senate Democrats, but has been stalled thanks to inaction by the House Democrat majority — Democrats have refused to pass a bill of any kind off the House floor, and it's been 69 days since the bill last received a hearing on February 9. Democrats have also excluded UI repayment from their budget targets released this week, suggesting they have no intention of paying back the UI Trust Fund. If the trust fund is not repaid, it would result in ten years of higher taxes on employers.
“Businesses were told they could delay payments until April 30. Now we are just days aways from that deadline and still, there has been no movement. We have the money and we must take action so that Minnesota’s job creators will not have to deal with this in addition to inflation, supply chain issues and workforce challenges,” Pfarr said.
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