Louisiana raises maximum unemployment insurance benefit to $284/week

Unemployment Insurance Tax Cut, benefits increase

Posted: Monday, January 5, 2009 4:05 pm on http://www.louisianaweekly.com/

BATON ROUGE — Legislation passed in the 2008 regular session became effective Jan.1 cutting unemployment insurance taxes by 10 percent while increasing the maximum weekly benefit amount from $258 to $284. These changes will remain in effect for as long as the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund balance exceeds $1.4 billion. If the fund were to drop below $1.4 billion, benefit payments and tax rates would revert to the levels in place today. The fund currently has a balance of $1.45 billion. “The fact that we are able to increase weekly benefit amounts while also easing the tax burden on employers is a testament to the stability of our unemployment insurance trust fund,” Louisiana Workforce Commission Executive Director Tim Barfield said. These changes were enacted with the support of business and industry and organized labor.