N.C. Chamber tackles state unemployment system

The $2.7 billion debt that North Carolina has incurred to pay unemployment benefits in the wake of the recession has led the N.C. Chamber of Commerce to commission a comprehensive study of the state's unemployment system.

"The key point for us is, we're looking at everything," said Gary Salamido, a lobbyist for the chamber. "We don't know what the solution is yet."

"We know there are a lot of moving parts here and we're finding out that they're all connected," he added. "To look at any of them in isolation probably isn't a fair representation of the challenge we face."

The Chamber has hired a Columbus, Ohio law firm to conduct the study, which will be led by attorney Anthonio Fiore. Fiore spent a decade as the lead lobbyist for labor and employment issues for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. The study was initiated last month and the target date for completion is April 18.

The firm's mandate is to analyze the state's current unemployment system, including its unemployment insurance laws; identify the best practices of other states; and make recommendations on how to return the state's unemployment insurance trust fund to solvency.

The firm also will look at the benefits the state pays and ways to help the unemployed find jobs.

"What we're leaning toward right now is something that really puts a heavy emphasis on worker training and re-employment and how do we get a world-class community college system...in charge of putting people back to work," Salamido said.

The $2.7 billion the state has borrowed to pay unemployment benefits came from the federal government. The borrowed money, which the state began accumulating in February 2009, was used solely for the first 26 weeks of unemployment benefits; any benefits unemployed workers receive beyond that are funded solely by the federal government.

Beginning this year, the state's employers are paying more in federal unemployment taxes. Those taxes will escalate every year until the state pays off its debt.