Gov. Charlie Baker is still waiting for guidance from the federal government on how Massachusetts can use the billions it received in American Rescue Plan stimulus, leaving the fate of higher-than-expected unemployment insurance premiums up in the air for several weeks longer.
More than a week after his administration extended the due date for first-quarter unemployment payments until June 1, Baker said Monday that he does not expect Washington to clarify whether the state can offset the sticker shock with federal funding until May. The timeline syncs up with a projection offered last month to lawmakers by a White House official.
“I can’t give you a hard date on when we’re going to hear from the feds,” Baker replied when asked if he had any updates about unemployment insurance relief and the possible use of ARP funding. “The date that most people think we are likely to hear from them is somewhere around the 10th of May. That’s the date that governors and others have sort of heard from the feds is kind of the target date. We obviously are very interested in knowing what they have to say about that.”
Some lawmakers, including Republican leaders in both chambers, and business groups want the Baker administration to use federal funding to replenish the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund after a wave of pandemic job losses threw the fund’s finances out of whack.
Baker signed a law in March aimed at stabilizing the state’s unemployment system and limiting cost increases on businesses. The legislation failed to avoid a spike in the solvency assessments that factor into the bills employers pay, catching some policymakers and many business leaders by surprise and leading to increases of thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for some establishments.
The administration on April 15 notified employers that first-quarter payments will be due June 1 instead of April 30 to give them more time to adjust to the higher-than-expected bills.
