Task Force Continues Work On Half-Billion Dollar Unemployment Debt

From Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeighKentucky lawmakers will have to wait a bit longer for a final report from a task force seeking ways to fix the bankrupt fund that provides benefits to jobless workers.Earlier this year, Kentucky’s unemployment insurance trust fund went broke. To keep paying unemployment benefits, the state started borrowing money from the federal government.That debt has now risen to a half-billion dollars. But Helen Mountjoy, who chairs a bipartisan task force seeking solutions to the problem, says the group needs more time.“The members have agreed to keep meeting and talking about the issues. They have requested some additional information from our consultants, and we will be scheduling another meeting that will take place, probably in the first week of December," says Mountjoy.Kentucky’s not alone with this problem. At least 23 other states are also borrowing federal dollars to keep benefits flowing to jobless workers.