Huey Harden offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print. Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum. ----------- PUBLICATION GUIDELINES - You have permission to publish this article for free providing the "About the Author" box is included in its entirety. - Do not post/reprint this article in any site or publication that contains hate, violence, porn, warez, or supports illegal activity. - Do not use this article in violation of the US CAN-SPAM Act. If sent by email, this article must be delivered to opt-in subscribers only. - If you publish this article in a format that supports linking, please ensure that all URLs and email addresses are active links. - Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to [email protected] - DistributeYourArticles (www.DistributeYourArticles.com) has distributed this article on behalf of the author. DistributeYourArticles does not own this article, please respect the author's copyright and publication guidelines. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this article. ----------- Article Title: 33 US States Bled Dry Funding Jobless Benefits Author: Huey Harden Category: Politics Word Count: 401 Keywords: employee benefits, employer-based health insurance, health care, health care cost, Health Insurance Author's Email Address: [email protected] Article Source: http://www.distributeyourarticles.com ------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------
With unemployment at an all time high of 9% majority of United States states have virtually drained their unemployment benefit funds dry, giving them no choice but to ask the Federal government for aid. Currently, about 33 federal states and the US Virgin Islands used up their funds to borrow to the tune of a whopping total of $38.7 billion to provide a short term safety net to millions of unemployed claimants. As a result of this, federal states are cutting off unnecessary services to save cost. From entertainment like fireworks to catching stray chickens, these cash-strapped cities are getting rid of all kinds of extraneous services. Debt-ridden California has borrowed the most, totaling more than $8.4 billion, followed by Michigan and New York, which have loans worth more than $3 billion. Nine other states have borrowed at least $1 billion from the federal government. "The nation's financing system for jobless benefits is under unprecedented stress," said Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the New York-based advocacy group for the unemployed. "While the recession has certainly made things worse, this funding crisis has been developing for years." At the start of the recession, only 19 federal states met the recommended funding level, amounting to 1 year of reserves equal to the highest amount of unemployment insurance paid out during prior recessions. Economic experts speculate that states build up their jobless benefit warchest only during strong economic times so that they can draw from these fund during difficult times like these. However, in practice, to fill their meager budgets, local state governments gather money for unemployed workers benefits by setting a fixed tax on employers on a small portion of their employee wages. While wages and the requirements for unemployment benefit levels have been climbing, governments haven't been increasing the taxable base wages at the same pace. Wrongly, they adhered to a "pay as you go" method, taxing low during productive times and ironically raising taxes only when dry times come. Only 13 states were able to fund jobless benefits without borrowing from the Federal government. Out of that about 10 of them followed the recommended path to finance their warchest. Here's how much they've borrowed from the federal government. State Borrowed California $8.40 billion Michigan $3.78 billion New York $3.00 billion Pennsylvania $2.81 billion Ohio $2.23 billion North Carolina $2.14 billion Illinois $2.06 billion Texas $2.03 billion Indiana $1.81 billion New Jersey $1.55 billion Florida $1.50 billion Wisconsin $1.34 billion South Carolina $851 million Kentucky $760 million Missouri $687 million Minnesota $638 million Connecticut $422 million Georgia $337 million Nevada $331 million Arkansas $318 million Virginia $317 million Massachusetts $279 million Alabama $268 million Rhode Island $204 million Colorado $186 million Idaho $181 million Maryland $104 million Kansas $65 million New Hampshire $23 million South Dakota $23 million Vermont $23 million Arizona $22 million Virgin Islands $13 million Delaware $1 million Huey Harden is your typical guy from Maine who's fired up and well on his way to developing multiple income streams online. For more information, visit his content and FAQ site at: Get Paid For Your Opinion (http://www.getpaidforyouropinion.net) ------------------ ARTICLE END ------------------ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
