HI SB1159

Appropriates unspecified sums from the general fund for fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 to reimburse the federal government for loans made to Hawaii for unemployment benefit payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Directs the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to expend the appropriated funds for repaying federal unemployment compensation loans.

Addresses the depletion of the unemployment compensation trust fund, which expended over $600 million in less than three months as unemployment reached approximately 25 percent during the COVID-19 crisis.

Effective date is July 1, 2050.