One of the nation’s oldest Public Policy Institutes says Georgia has most of the most restrictive, least generous unemployment insurance programs in the country.
The Century Foundation, founded as the Co-operative League in 1919, looked at data from all 50 states. The most recent report this month, shows that on average, employers, not workers, are benefiting from the recovery of unemployment trust funds, or the accounts funded by employers for unemployment benefits. Andrew Sttetner is a Senior Fellow with the foundation. He says the report shows Georgia is one of the worst offenders.
“It was one of just 9 states that cut the basic package of benefits from 26 weeks to just 14 weeks right now,” Stettner said. “Throughout the history of this program the idea was you could count on at least six months to get yourself back on your feet is you got laid off.
Stettner says Georgia went from being $761 million in the red in 2012, to having a surplus of $1.2 billion.
The Century Foundation’s report showed the state’s employers are paying about $200 less per employee in unemployment taxes.
To view report:
https://tcf.org/content/report/unemployment-trust-fund-recovery-helping-employers-not-workers/.