Bobby Jindal apparently caused what he feared.
On Friday June 26th, Dan and Dave on the Air had on as a guest Louisiana Representative Sam Jones to discuss the Louisiana Legislative Session. One of the topics that came up was the issue of why the legislature was not able to pass legislation that would have forced Bobby Jindal to veto a bill to prevent Louisiana from accepting those additional unemployment funds.
We all know that one of the excuses Governor Jindal gave for rejecting those funds was that it would increase taxes on Louisiana business.
As Tim Barfield, Jindal’s appointment to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, stated:
“This amendment would have the effect of changing our current law in a way to use temporary federal stimulus money while resulting in a long term tax increase on Louisiana businesses who will long after be taxed along new experience ratings that are used to calculate their individual tax rates.”
However, the shocking revelation that we heard from Representative Jones was that Jindal’s refusal of these funds has caused an increase on business taxes.
Let me repeat that just in case it didn’t sink in. Jindal’s refusal to accept the unemployment funds from the stimulus package has caused an increase of taxes for Louisiana businesses.
How so? Well, Louisiana passed legislation last year that established a lower unemployment tax rate as long as the Louisiana’s Unemployment Insurance “trust fund” stayed above $1.4 billion. According to Representative Jones, the trust fund has dipped below $1.4 billon, triggering an increase in unemployment taxes back to the old rate.
Had Governor Jindal accepted the stimulus funding, the trust fund would have been funded above $1.4 billion and no tax increase would have been needed.
So, according to Representative Jones, the exact thing Jindal was worried about in changing the rules is the thing that happened because he didn’t.
July 28th, 2009 at 8:09 am
After unsuccessfully trying to collect Unemployment benefits I started checking around with other unemployed co-workers and found that they too weren’t paid all of their benefits.
Louisiana has a LA Works website and a 1-866 number for the uninsured. However, these are only good to start a claim and check the status of a claim. If you have a problem with a claim, you’ll spend most of your time off trying to get your unemployment and less time looking for a job. One person reported waiting over 4 hours on hold, only to be told to fax their issue in.
My funds were directly deposited to somewhere other than my account. I continue to try and reach a human being somewhere in the state of Louisiana who can assist me with my issues. I’ve sent emails to Jindals office but it’s like falling on deaf ears.
LAWORKS does not work. Jindal’s way to get over not accepting the extra funding appears to be by cutting the Workforce Commission positions, frustrating the unemployed and saving on all the benefits that never make it to the unemployed.