Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and Speaker Shap Smith moved forward today on addressing the challenge of unemployment insurance by appointing the Unemployment Trust Fund Reform Study Committee.
Vermont s unemployment insurance system is in desperate need of reform, said Speaker Smith. The Fund has been in decline for many years and without reform will go bankrupt. I am pleased that we have put together a strong committee who will continue the work we did on this issue, over the summer and fall months.
The Committee will undertake a comprehensive study of all the issues that affect the solvency of the trust fund and develop recommendations for reforms to make the fund more sustainable. These issues will include negative balance, seasonal and reimbursable employers, taxable wage base and the rates that are applied to those bases, benefit levels and others.
While setting our unemployment insurance system on a more sustainable path is not an easy task, Speaker Smith and I recognize that if we do not act, costs for employers could increase and more Vermonters could lose their jobs, said Senator Shumlin. I am confident that the Committee we have put together will produce strong recommendations that will balance the needs of both our employers and employees and will allow us to fully address this challenge in the 2010 legislative
session.
The House Appointees to this Committee are:
Representative Michael Obuchowski, Chair of House Ways and Means
Representative Warren Kitzmiller, Chair of House Commerce
Representative Michael Marcotte
Representative John Moran
Representative Dave Sharpe
Representative Megan Smith
The Senate Appointees to this Committee are:
Senator Vince Illuzzi, Chair of Economic Development, Housing and
General Housing
Senator Ann Cummings, Chair of Finance
Senator Bill Carris
Senator Doug Racine
Senator Mark MacDonald
Senator Kevin Mullin
Shumlin and Speaker Smith Move Forward on Addressing Unemployment Insurance
Submitted by og
on