HI HR136

Hawaii has borrowed $700,700,000 from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, representing the eighth largest state unemployment debt to the federal government as of January 2020.

States currently have approximately two years to repay federal unemployment loans, after which federal unemployment taxes on businesses automatically increase annually until the debt is repaid.

Urges the U.S. Congress to forgive Hawaii's outstanding federal unemployment insurance loan balance and prohibit penalizing states for debts acquired due to COVID-19 emergency funding.

Hawaii had the highest state unemployment rate in the nation at 9.3 percent as of December 2020 and may need to borrow additional federal funds for unemployment benefits.

Requires certified copies of the resolution be transmitted to the President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and all members of the Hawaii Congressional Delegation.