By Marilyn Odendahl, Truth Staff
modendahl@etruth.com
Although the governor's signature is not certain, local employers were critical of the unemployment legislation that passed through the Indiana General Assembly on Wednesday.
The bill seeks to fix the state's insolvent unemployment insurance fund by increasing taxes over the next two years on Hoosier businesses. A heftier tax burden in this economy, say area business leaders, will stifle a company's willingness to hire new workers and could cripple its ability to survive this recession.
"Only one more brick on the load in a wagon that is pretty tough to pull anyway," said Tim Howard, president and chief executive officer of park trailer manufacturer Breckenridge in Nappanee. "At some point, even the strongest, best employer can't pull the load."
The bill does not cut any benefits being paid to unemployed workers. Visiting Elkhart in January, Gov. Mitch Daniel proposed lowering the compensation the jobless receive while on unemployment along with raising employers' taxes as the way to stabilize the fund. The fund has borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government.
Democrats in the General Assembly opposed curtailing benefits, not wanting to hurt the unemployed more than they are. State Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, sponsor of the bill in the Indiana House of Representatives, said the money being paid to the laid-off workers does not get put into bank accounts but is used to pay bills and make purchases in local communities.
Elkhart resident Jama Eisman, laid off from Forest River, was relieved her $307 weekly benefit will not be reduced. The divorced mother of three already struggles to pay her bills, is worried she will lose her house to foreclosure and continually repeats the mantra, "I don't know what I'm going to do."
Unable to find a job and trying to complete computer training classes at MapleTronics, Eisman recalled a "very hard week" when unemployment paid her just $150 and she received a heating bill for $152. If not for the generosity of a classmate slipping her $100, the utility would have gone unpaid and Eisman's problems would have mounted.
"I felt helpless and happy at the same time," she said of accepting the friend's gift.
Still, to return the unemployment fund to solvency, Randy Huffman, president and owner of Nuway Construction in Goshen, believes the Legislature should at least look for a way to curb the amount being paid out to the unemployed workers and must ensure that only workers who deserve benefits are receiving them.
He also questioned the bill's provision requiring businesses in cyclical industries -- like construction and recreational vehicles -- to be taxed at a higher rate. That, Huffman said, is penalizing businesses that are at the mercy of elements they cannot control like the weather. Spreading the tax more evenly around "seems like it would be more fair," he said.
While the General Assembly did pass the unemployment bill, it did not come to a consensus on the state budget and will have to go into special session. Consequently, the unemployment fund legislation could be thrown back into play, said Kyle Hannon, public policy manager at the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce.
Speculating, Hannon said the governor could use the unemployment bill as a bargaining chip or possibly the Legislature could fill the fund somehow through the budget.