Legislative Alert: April 1, 2025

President's Message

Unfreeze Worker Benefits and Address the Unemployment Trust Fund Deficit Before It's Too Late

The unemployment system has become a top priority in this year’s budget negotiations. The current maximum benefit of $504.00 per week has been frozen at the 2019 level since the pandemic hit, and the shutdown caused a spike in unemployment. This is lower than the state’s minimum wage for a full-time employee, and it is not enough for any individual to get by on, let alone a family. Federal law prohibits increased costs for unemployment while there is a deficit.

Working families need this addressed immediately. Were it not for the pandemic, statutory increases would have stayed in place and the benefit would now be approximately $850.00 per week.

Further, given the federal government’s cuts to its own operations and the impending cuts to its funding for state governments, unemployment will most likely rise. Fears of a recession have also increased thanks to tariffs, economic uncertainty, and other actions that the federal government has taken.

At the same time, private employers in New York State are paying increased costs which are required by the federal government to pay down the deficit. Now that the deficit has been in place for more than five years, even steeper penalties are going into effect moving forward.

If the unemployment rate rises, not only will all the current cost increases stay in place, but we will pile on additional debt, interest, and penalties to the deficit. None of this helps workers and it is not sustainable. The current benefit will not carry families through a crisis and employers will not be able to afford the costs. This issue is a ticking time bomb, and we must address it before it explodes.

The Assembly one-house budget proposes using rainy day funds to pay down the deficit and return the fund to solvency, as more than 30 states have already done. This would help workers get benefits that are meaningful; and it would eliminate the increased costs for employers, which would in turn help unions at the bargaining table.

Returning the fund to solvency will reset the clock on interest-free loans for the trust fund, allow increased benefits for workers, and give breathing room to employees in the event of a recession. This plan should be considered seriously with the stipulation that the maximum benefit increases to the statutory level for 2025, we equalize the waiting period for striking workers with all others, and we reform "reasonable assurance" to ensure that non-teaching education employees are no longer wrongfully denied unemployment benefits by employers that abuse a procedural requirement.

Mario Cilento, President

Upcoming Meeting

LABOR LOBBYISTS MEETING 
Monday, April 7, 2025, 1:00 p.m. 
This event will be located at the Albany office of the NYS AFL-CIO, 
100 South Swan St. Albany, NY. 
This meeting is for labor representatives only.