Kane County Reporter

Legislation to use federal COVID funds to only partially pay down the state's unemployment insurance trust fund debt has brought criticism from Sen. Don DeWitte (R-West Dundee).

“It’s incredibly disingenuous for Gov. Pritzker and his Democrat legislative leaders to paint this vote as a victory. This action will lead to the largest tax increase on jobs in Illinois history," DeWitte said in a press release posted on his website. "Employers who have been treated poorly and with complete disregard throughout the pandemic will be left holding the bag and left responsible for filling the remaining multi-billion-dollar deficit in the unemployment insurance trust fund."

DeWitte pointed out that other states used the federal money to pay off their funds' debt in their entirety.

“Responsible states across the nation took their federal ARPA funds and prioritized the replenishment of their states’ unemployment insurance funds, but not Illinois," DeWitte said. "Gov. Pritzker and legislative Democrats made a conscious choice to use the majority of the ARPA funds on pork projects and other election year gimmickry to buy support and votes from constituents in an election year.”

Senate Bill 2803 passed both the Senate (33-15) and the House (68-43) along partisan lines and was signed by the governor on March 25. The bill authorizes putting $2.7 billion in government COVID funding toward paying off part of the $4.5 billion unemployment insurance trust fund debt.

The chief sponsors of the legislation are Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and State Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora).

Republicans are angry the debt wasn't paid off in full and argue the decision will bring tax hikes for businesses. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) gave more than $8 billion to Illinois in 2021.

“Yet again, Gov. Pritzker and the Democrats are turning their backs on the business community. Their action guarantees a significant tax increase on every Illinois job through higher employment insurance costs, and a decrease in benefits for every Illinois worker," DeWitte said. "Especially as we head towards what many believe will be another recession, when unemployed workers turn to Illinois’ unemployment system, their benefits will be reduced due to the greed shown by the majority party. Even if the majority party chooses to borrow funds to plug some or part of the remaining hole, the result is the same: a huge tax increase and millions and millions in new interest costs.”

The Center Square reported that Kristin Richards, the director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security, told the Illinois Senate that over 18% of payments of unemployment insurance were paid in the wrong way. No estimate of the dollar amount of fraud was provided by Richards. However, she stated that Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania had estimated fraudulent payments between $4 and $6 billion.