No free lunch: States seek ways to repay jobless benefits

McClatchy reports:

As U.S. employers brace for higher state unemployment insurance taxes next year, business groups are urging Congress to delay interest penalties on $42 billion states have borrowed to continue paying jobless benefits during the recession.

Thirty states and the Virgin Islands have exhausted their unemployment insurance trust fund reserves and are using U.S. treasury funds to maintain benefit checks for millions of workers who lost jobs through no fault of their own.

So far, only Maryland, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Tennessee have paid back their loans in full, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California, with an unemployment rate of 12.4 percent, leads all borrowers with more than $9.1 billion owed. Hard-hit Michigan is a distant second and owes more than $3.8 billion.

An interesting article.