Boston— The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is raising alarms following news that Massachusetts’ unemployment rate has climbed to 4.6%, warning that continued inaction from lawmakers could deepen the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) crisis and further burden small business owners.
In a statement released Monday, Christopher Carlozzi, NFIB’s Massachusetts state director, highlighted the growing strain on the state’s UI trust fund and criticized what he described as a lack of urgency on Beacon Hill to address the situation.
“The state’s unemployment rate is again trending in the wrong direction and placing the Commonwealth’s UI trust fund on an accelerated path to insolvency,” said Carlozzi. “The longer lawmakers delay implementing much-needed reforms to the state’s overly generous benefits, extended duration, and relaxed qualification standards, the more calamitous the situation becomes for small business owners who are being saddled with some of the most oppressive UI taxes in the nation.”
According to NFIB, Massachusetts employers remain on the hook for nearly $5 billion in pandemic-related UI debt—$2.1 billion of which is tied to a state accounting error. Unlike New York, which recently committed more than $6 billion from state reserves to erase its UI debt, Massachusetts has yet to make a similar move.
The current maximum weekly UI benefit in the state stands at $1,051, and recipients may collect benefits for up to 30 weeks—among the most extended durations in the nation. The extended period was triggered after one of the state’s seven metropolitan areas recorded an unemployment rate above 5.1% last month.
“There is a UI storm on the horizon, and inaction is no longer a solution,” Carlozzi added. “It is time for state elected officials to address this looming crisis by finally tackling reforms and committing state funds to a broken UI system, taking the pressure off of overtaxed and overburdened employers.”
NFIB recently launched a radio and digital ad campaign urging the legislature to prioritize reforms to the state’s unemployment insurance system, which the organization argues is unsustainable in its current form.
