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Coronavirus
As a new strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) swept through the world in 2020, preparedness plans, masking policies and more public policy changed just as quickly. WVXU has covered the pandemic's impact on the Tri-State from the very beginning, when on March 3, 2020, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine barred spectators from attending the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus over concerns about the virus, even though Ohio had yet to confirm a single case of COVID-19.

Jobless Benefits Fund Broke; Ohio Starts Borrowing From Feds

Dan Konik

The fund by which Ohio pays jobless benefits is officially broke, and the state has asked to borrow more than $3 billion so payments can keep going out to unemployed workers.

The state has paid out $4.1billionto699,000Ohioans in the last 90 days. That's a billion more than has ever been paid out in a full year. Fewer than 6% of claims are pending - that's just over 71,000, and some go back to March. About 30% of claims have been denied.

There was only about $88 million in the unemployment compensation fund on Tuesday – so the state has asked for a $3.1 billion line of credit from the federal government and started to take funds from it.

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Kim Hall said the feds will waive interest on what’s borrowed through the end of the year, but the interest rate will go to 2.4% on January 1.

“Ifthestatedoesn'tpayinfullbyNovember2022,thenemployerswillseeagradualincreaseintheirunemploymenttaxes.ThatwillbedueinJanuaryof2023," Hall said.

And the interest rate ticks up by .3 percent every year after that.

State lawmakers are considering options such as asking voters for permission to issue bonds to pay back the loan sooner.

It took seven years to pay off the state’s $3.4 billion loan when the fund went broke in 2008.

Ohio is not the only state that's borrowing money to shore up its fund. Eight other states have requested borrowing authority but haven't tapped that money yet.

Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau

Contact Karen at 614/578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.