CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For the second time this year WorkForce West Virginia has taken advantage of a new state law that allows it to borrow money from the state Rainy Day Fund to get the state’s Unemployment Compensation fund through times of reduced balance.
The agency borrowed the maximum allowed $50 million last week, state acting Unemployment Insurance Director Connie Kirk told state lawmakers Tuesday at the state capitol, just in case there are more unemployment claims this winter.
“We’re starting to see a trend (of fewer unemployment claims) but we know with the winter months coming that’s going to fluctuate some with construction jobs and other factors,” Kirk said. “So we did it (borrowing) proactively to make sure we had the funds in there.”
The law, passed earlier this year by state lawmakers, allows for a 180-day loan when the unemployment compensation fund falls below $50 million. The balance was at $42.7 million on Nov. 7 and was projected to be $23 million without the borrowed money in December. Last month, officials thought the fund would have a negative balance in December but things have improved, Kirk said.
“We’re seeing the claims starting to drop off,” she said. “I believe West Virginia is actually trying to recover some of these jobs. I do believe we’ll see the trust fund be more stable,” she said.
WorkForce West Virginia borrowed $38 million from the Rainy Day Fund in March and paid it back in May. Kirk predicted the agency would have no problem paying the $50 million back by next April.
“We have our highest revenue (from employers) in the quarter ending in March and we will repay it at that point and time,” she said.
WorkForce West Virginia has yet to finalize unemployment projections for 2017.