Employee groups blast state unemployment plan

Critics say a bill to shore up the state’s unemployment compensation fund would cut benefits to jobless workers and deny assistance to most low-wage workers, while Ohio employers pay among the lowest unemployment taxes in the nation.

“Ohio’s solvency challenge is due to a lack of revenue, and not because of atypical benefit costs,” Ohio AFL-CIO President Timothy W. Burga told a House committee reviewing the proposal Wednesday.

“Ohio employer taxes have been lower than the national average for 19 of the last 21 years. In fact, employers pay a state tax percentage into the system on the first $9,500 an employee earns, well below the current national average of $13,782.”

The labor leader said data from the U.S. Department of Labor show that on average, Ohio employers paid $251 per employee last year in state unemployment taxes, vs. a national average of $337.

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