BCW Joins with Groups Statewide Urging Support of Proposal to Fund Unemployment Insurance Program

The Business Council of Westchester joined with 25 other statewide business organizations in a letter to the leadership of the State Senate and Assembly urging them to support the Assembly’s proposal to devote $7 billion to pay off the state’s outstanding federal unemployment insurance program loan and help restore the financial stability of the state’s UI fund.

“This expensive but necessary step would have multiple benefits — it would help restore the UI fund’s financial strength, it would allow for reduced federal UI taxes on business, and it would make possible increased maximum UI benefits for workers,” read the letter dated April 1, 2025. The letter was sent to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay and Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt. Replenishing New York State’s Unemployment Insurance Fund has been one of the BCW’s top legislative priorities.

The letter noted that during the COVID pandemic, all non-essential businesses were shut down, and unemployment benefits surged. As a result, the UI system was overwhelmed by the unparalleled spike in claims and extraordinary amounts of money poured out of New York’s UI Trust Fund.

In order to satisfy these claims, New York needed to borrow funds from the federal government. Currently, New York and California are the only states with outstanding federal UI advances, and New York is the only state that took federal UI advances that has not applied any public resources to restoring their UI program funds.

“While we appreciate other UI-related proposals, including the Governor’s proposal to pay interest on our UI debt, and the Senate’s proposal for a tax credit to offset the impact of higher UI taxes on small businesses, these proposals only treat the symptoms of the state’s UI funding problem. Repaying the debt eliminates the underlying problem and makes possible necessary discussions on future benefits and tax structures,” the letter stated, adding, “Continuing the status quo means continued high UI taxes for employers, and unintended caps on maximum week benefits for UI claimants, likely for the remainder of this decade.”

It was noted that employers have already paid down $4 billion of this debt through increased taxes. “They should not be required to bear the full cost of the remaining debt — debt that was the direct result of state-imposed reductions in force. We urge New York’s leaders to seize this opportunity to fix one of the state’s most significant lingering repercussions of the Covid-era recession, for the benefit of employers and workers alike.”

In addition to the BCW, the other organizations signing the letter included: American Council of Engineering Companies of New York; Associated Builders & Contractors, Empire State; Associated General Contractors, New York State; Buffalo Niagara Partnership; Business Council of New York State; Capital Region Chamber; CenterState CEO; Empire State Forest Products Association; Food Industry Alliance of New York; Greater Binghamton Chamber; Greater Rochester Chamber; Manufacturers Association of Central New York; National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB); New York Association of Convenience Stores; New York Construction Materials Association (NYMaterials); New York Farm Bureau; New York State Builders Association; New York State Economic Development Council; New York State Restaurant Association; Northeastern Retail Lumber Association; Partnership for New York City; Retail Council of New York State; Rochester Technology and Manufacturing Association (RTMA); Trucking Association of New York (TANY).

 Collectively, the organizations represent tens of thousands of businesses of all sectors across the state.