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Don’t miss our upcoming Government Affairs Forum with Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg.
12/09/2025
9:45am - 11:00am
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Join us in person to learn about Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL), a prestigious leadership program shaping top talent across Greater Boston. Hear from alumni, explore the application process, and stay for networking and refreshments.
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May 18, 2021
Today, the Chamber submitted testimony to the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development opposing legislation expanding eligibility standards for the unemployment insurance (UI) system because such an expansion would jeopardize UI Trust Fund solvency. As the state recovers from the pandemic, the UI Trust Fund solvency should be the main concern for this Committee. Trust fund solvency should be addressed by using federal funds to replenish the fund and, once employment returns to normal levels, by reforming work and duration standards for UI benefits.
The Treasury Department’s interim final rule on state and local fiscal recovery funds provides an opportunity to rebuild the depleted fund as the state moves away from the worst of the pandemic. The Chamber urges the Legislature and the administration to dedicate up to $2 billion to the fund to defray the severe unemployment insurance increases for employers.
Even if there is an infusion of federal funds, and despite recent legislation to freeze UI rates, employers have higher UI taxes in 2021, including a new temporary excise tax, because the state must close the UI Trust Fund deficit. Massachusetts already has among the most generous eligibility requirements in the country and expanding the eligibility formula further will increase the burden on employers working through an economic recovery.
In fact, the state’s UI trust fund has for years been ill-prepared to weather a recession, as explained in the Chamber’s Road to Economic Recovery brief. The brief recommends tying the benefit duration period to the state unemployment rate and account for time worked in determining eligibility and/or benefits. Massachusetts offers the longest duration period for benefits of all 50 states and is the only state in the country that does not require a minimum amount of time worked to determine either UI eligibility or to calculate the weekly benefit. Reforms to eligibility and benefit calculations are needed to address the long-term needs of the system.
Click here to read the Chamber’s testimony letter.
Carolyn Ryan
Senior Vice President, Policy & Research
[email protected]617-557-7310
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