Senator Greenstein Urges Governor to Use Federal Funds to Offset Unemployment Insurance Tax Hike

Cranbury, NJ – Senator Greenstein today sent the following letter to Governor Phil Murphy urging him to utilize a portion of New Jersey’s federal relief funds to help offset the Unemployment Insurance tax hike. Read the letter in full below:

Dear Governor Murphy,

As the State Senator of the 14th Legislative District, I am writing to you to respectfully request that you allocate a portion of New Jersey’s federal relief funds to offset the $250 million Unemployment Insurance tax hike that New Jersey businesses will face in the coming months.

The New Jersey Department of Labor announced an increase in the unemployment insurance tax that businesses will pay come October 1st. Businesses in the state are at a critical juncture as they try to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This tax increase only makes their recovery that much more difficult.

The American Rescue Plan was enacted to help State and Local governments recover from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. An increase in the unemployment insurance tax certainly qualifies as a negative economic impact due to the pandemic. Therefore, these funds should be used to offset this increase on our businesses. Other states have used federal funds to replenish unemployment, and I hope that New Jersey will follow their steps and do the same to avoid an untimely burden on our businesses.

My office is far too familiar with the unemployment crisis that is happening in our state. We have had over 1500 constituents reach out to our office needing assistance to get the unemployment that they rely on. However, pushing the burden onto businesses to fund the increase in unemployment instead of using funds that were created for this purpose, could result in a disaster for already struggling businesses.

Thank you for your attention on this matter. I am available to discuss this further, if necessary.

Most sincerely,

Linda R. Greenstein

Senator, 14th Legislative District