Indiana Legislature

Search Results

Close Previous Now showing: of Next

Previous Next Close

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.

comments powered by Disqus

February 11, 2010

Indiana jobless fund tax increase a hot topic

By Mike Smith The Tribune Star Thu Feb 11, 2010, 10:15 PM EST

INDIANAPOLIS — Whether to delay increases in taxes that employers pay to Indiana’s unemployment insurance fund is becoming a contentious issue in the General Assembly.

Lobbyists for employers told the Democrat-controlled House’s Labor and Employment Committee on Thursday that the tax increase would lead to more layoffs in a still struggling economy. They favor a bill the Republican-controlled Senate passed that would delay the tax increase this year.

But others are against waiting and told the House committee that the increase is needed now to help shore up the state’s bankrupt jobless benefits fund. The committee did not vote on the Senate bill Thursday, but is expected to address it again soon.

House Democrats say they’re skeptical of a delay because of mounting debt in the jobless fund.

“We have got to do something to stimulate jobs and we’re not convinced this (delay) is the way to go,” said Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, chairman of the House Labor and Employment Committee.

House Speaker Patrick Bauer, also a Democrat from South Bend, has suggested that House Democrats might use the bill as a vehicle for a job-creation plan his caucus has yet to reveal. But House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said he was concerned Democrats would load up the legislation with pro-labor provisions that could kill the bill.

The unemployment insurance fund has been paying out hundreds of millions of dollars more in benefits than it has been receiving in taxes, and has borrowed $1.6 billion from the federal government to keep the fund solvent.

Lawmakers enacted a law last year that raises unemployment taxes on most employers while keeping jobless benefits at a maximum of $390 a week.

Companies now pay between 1.1 percent and 5.6 percent on the first $7,000 of each employee’s annual salary, with higher percentages charged on companies with a greater history of layoffs.

This year, businesses are slated to pay between 0.70 percent and 9.5 percent of the first $9,500 of a worker’s salary. In 2011, tax rates are scheduled to increase to 0.75 percent to 10.2 percent of the $9,500 taxable wage base. The higher taxes are expected to raise about $350 million for the fund this year.

Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the increase into law last year, but now favors a one-year delay.

Josh Richardson, director of governmental affairs for the Department of Workforce Development, said the agency recognizes that the unemployment fund needs to be fixed.

But, he said, “With so many Hoosiers out of work right now, it would be a terrible problem to increase the cost of hiring workers back. And so a one-year delay would — we think — help jobs in this state and encourage employers to bring folks back to work.”

Without a delay, workforce development officials say 7,100 employers at the highest tax rate will have their taxes more than double from $392 to $902 per employer. About 15,000 companies already delinquent in paying their taxes would see their rates triple.

Steve Austin, a lobbyist for Elwood-based Red Gold, said the tomato products company wanted to add 40 workers. But now it plans to hire only 20 because of the tax increase.

“It’s a huge bite,” Austin said.

But Pete Rimsans, executive director of the Indiana State Building and Construction Trades Council, said lawmakers should not turn back after agreeing last year to start fixing the insurance fund.

“It’s time to swallow our pill, roll up our sleeves and get the job done,” he said.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Indiana Legislature

• Bill would ease college credit transfers

  Indiana college students worried about whether their credit hours will transfer to another university may get some relief if a proposed higher-education bill passes.
   

  February 14, 2012  

• Indiana joins right-to-work ranks, governor signs bill

  Indiana has become the first Rust Belt state to enact the contentious right-to-work labor law prohibiting labor contracts that require workers to pay union representation fees.

  February 1, 2012  

• Indiana Senate approves right-to-work bill

  Indiana’s Senate has passed right-to-work legislation, placing the state on the verge of becoming the Rust Belt’s first to enact the contentious labor law.

  February 1, 2012  

• Democrats skip Indiana Senate right-to-work hearing

  Democratic senators are boycotting an Indiana Senate hearing on the contentious right-to-work bill.

  January 30, 2012  

• Indiana legislators OK tougher sex-trafficking law

  A bill to toughen Indiana’s penalties for sex trafficking is on its way to Gov. Mitch Daniels for him to sign into law ahead of next weekend’s Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

  January 27, 2012  

• Senate bill to help Vigo agency

  Legislation drafted to help a local nonprofit passed out of the Indiana State Senate with unanimous support Monday, and is now bound for the House of Representatives.
   

  January 27, 2012  

• Indiana right-to-work foes object to vote’s speed

  Opponents of Indiana’s right-to-work bill say Republicans are trying to shut off public debate by rushing the matter through the Legislature within the next week.

  January 26, 2012  

• Lawmakers move ahead with welfare drug-testing

  Indiana lawmakers are pushing forward on legislation that would cut off cash assistance to welfare recipients who fail drug tests.

  January 26, 2012  

• Indiana House approves right-to-work bill

  Indiana’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives cleared the way Wednesday to become the first right-to-work state in a traditionally union-heavy Rust Belt increasingly targeted by non-union foes.

  January 25, 2012 2 Photos  

• Indiana panel backs teaching cursive writing mandate

  Indiana’s public schools would be required to teach cursive writing and largely prohibited from starting their school years until late August under bill approved by a legislative committee.

  January 25, 2012  

• UPDATE: Indiana House opens debate on right-to-work vote

  Indiana’s House of Representatives is debating the divisive right-to-work measure before possibly clearing the final hurdle.

  January 25, 2012  

• Hearing on bill eliminating some licensing abruptly canceled

  Union protesters haven’t been able to stop a controversial labor bill in the Indiana Statehouse, but hairdressers may have killed a piece of legislation they loathe.

  January 25, 2012  

• Indiana House eyes another $5M for state fair victims

  Indiana’s House Ways and Means chairman is pushing for $5 million more for victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse and $80 million to pay for full-day kindergarten.

  January 24, 2012  

• GOP rejects House Dems’ vote on RTW referendum

  Indiana House Democrats walked off the floor Monday after losing an effort to put a right-to-work measure aimed at unions before voters, possibly resuming an off-and-on boycott strategy aimed at derailing the measure for the second straight year.
   

  January 24, 2012  

• Indiana House Dems end third right-to-work boycott

  Indiana House Democrats have returned to work after a boycott over divisive right-to-work legislation by moving to strike down the measure.

  January 23, 2012  

• Indiana House Dems may end boycott Monday

  House Democrats who have been boycotting the session to block a contentious right-to-work bill could return Monday to begin debating the measure, although disagreement over whether a statewide referendum on the issue would be constitutional might delay a vote.

  January 21, 2012  

• Labor workers protest Chamber’s right-to-work stance

  About 60 union workers, representing seven different unions, protested this morning in front of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce while the organization held an educational meeting on right-to-work legislation before the Indiana General Assembly.

  January 20, 2012 1 Photo  

• Indiana Democrats continue right-to-work boycott

  Indiana legislative leaders today did not appear to be moving toward a resolution of the standstill caused by most House Democrats’ boycott over the contentious right-to-work bill.

  January 19, 2012  

• Call for RTW referendum stirs pot

  When Republican State Rep. Rich McClain filed a bill last week that called for a referendum vote on the controversial right-to-work issue, he had no idea it might be unconstitutional.

  January 19, 2012  

• Indiana House votes for $1,000 fines for missing members

  When Indiana House Democrats fled the state last year to stall action on a contentious labor bill, Republicans waited two weeks before docking the missing members’ expense checks.
  This time around, they’re not so patient.

  January 19, 2012  

• Democrats plan legal challenge to Indiana House fines

  Indiana House Democrats say they’ll go to court to challenge the $1,000-a-day fines they face for their legislative boycott over the right-to-work bill.

  January 18, 2012  

• Grubb, four other Indiana democrats on House floor for labor bill debate

  Indiana House Democrats who failed to show up this morning for a quorum call were hit with a $1,000-a-day fine,  but five of their colleagues escaped the punishment.

  January 18, 2012 1 Photo  

• Indiana Democrats show no signs of ending boycott

  Most Indiana House Democrats aren’t showing signs of ending their boycott over the right-to-work bill despite threats of $1,000-a-day fines.

  January 18, 2012  

• Bray announces he will not seek re-election to Senate District 37

  State Sen. Richard Bray, R-Martinsville, announced today he will not seek re-election for Senate District 37, which includes areas of Owen, Putnam, Morgan, Clay, Johnson and Monroe counties.

  January 17, 2012  

• Bill requiring Indiana stage inspections advances

  All outdoor stages in Indiana would have to pass inspections before any performances under a bill approved by a state Senate committee.

  January 17, 2012  

• Indiana panel backs bill on right to resist police

  An Indiana Senate committee has endorsed a proposal giving state residents limited rights to resist police officers trying to enter their homes.

  January 17, 2012  

• Indiana lawmakers consider fines on access violators

  Government officials could face fines of up to $500 for blatantly violating Indiana’s public access laws under a proposal that would impose personal penalties for such actions for the first time since the laws were adopted 35 years ago.

  January 16, 2012  

• MAUREEN HAYDEN: Let’s be clear on right-to-work’s effects, if that’s even possible

  Ball State University economist Michael Hicks describes himself as a fiscal conservative and admirer of much of what Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has done in his seven years in office.
  But last week, Hicks released a research study that isn’t going over well with Daniels’ allies in the Statehouse pushing a contentious piece of legislation known as the right-to-work bill.

  January 16, 2012 1 Photo  

• UPDATE: Indiana Democrats: Voters should decide right-to-work

  Indiana House Democrats want voters to decide the fate of a right-to-work bill or else they’ll continue stall tactics designed to derail the contentious legislation, the House minority leader said today.

  January 13, 2012  

• Indiana county leaders worried over 911 funding

  Indiana county officials who are scrambling to find enough money to pay for 911 emergency services say they aren’t confident of help from lawmakers who might be leery of allowing increased cellphone fees during an election year.

  January 12, 2012  

• More Indiana Legislature Headlines

© 2012 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. · CNHI Classified Advertising Network · CNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2012. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope. Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
Privacy Policy | AP News Registry privacy policy
Terms and Conditions
Advertiser Index

Events by eviesays.com

News From Terre Haute, Indiana 222 S 7th St Terre Haute, IN 47807