Will County Gazette

State Rep. David Welter (R-Morris) is urging Democrats in Springfield to put the remainder of Illinois’ American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to good use by paying down the state’s massive unemployment insurance trust fund debt.

“Fiscal irresponsibility is killing our state,” Welter posted on Facebook. “Enough is enough. Illinois is one of 10 states in debt in their unemployment insurance trust fund. We cannot let this burden fall on the people of Illinois. Democrats need to use APRA funds to pay this debt immediately.”

News Channel 20 reports the state’s unemployment insurance fund debt now stands at roughly $4.5 billion and increases by $2 million every week.

Democrats have been slow to embrace the idea of using APRA funds to pay down the debt, prompting House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Burr Ridge) to demand they stop sitting on the money.

“The governor needs to use that money to help out the people that were hurt the most during the pandemic and that is our small businesses and our employers based on actions that he took,” Durkin said.

After borrowing the money to meet ballooning unemployment claims during last year’s COVID-19 shutdown, state Democrats now insist they are holding out hope that the federal government will offer help or forgiveness for some of this debt.

"You can't actually use ARPA funds, according to the rules of ARPA," Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently told reporters. "You can't repay any debt that's already owed to the federal government with ARPA funds."

The U.S. Treasury guidance released in May carves out an exception to get unemployment funds back to pre-pandemic levels. Several states have already commenced making plans to use ARPA funds to balance their unemployment accounts.

State business leaders have recently expressed concern after the last two budgets passed in Springfield failed to address the unemployment trust fund debt.  

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of residents filing unemployment claims has soared to historic highs, peaking in April 2020 at over 202,000 weekly claims.

Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said employers who pay into the fund through payroll taxes are concerned about how the state intends to fill a hole that is at least $5.2 billion deep.

The state is federally mandated to assure the solvency of the trust fund, including finding a way to balance the account if and when it dips too low by making decisions that could include reducing benefits, increasing premiums on employers, reappropriating funds from other state revenue sources or some combination of those options.