SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WREX) — An agreement between state legislative and business leaders has allowed Illinois to pay off its federal unemployment insurance Trust Fund debt, state officials said Wednesday.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Dept. of Employment Security announced Wednesday that the state has officially repaid $1.36 billion in debt from the unemployed insurance Trust Fund.
The announcement comes two months after an agreement was made between state legislators and business and labor leaders in Illinois. On Wednesday, the payment was signed off by Gov. Pritzker.
Gov. Pritzker says he is proud to see the state’s “strong economic trajectory” continue.
“This achievement will save Illinois businesses hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade, and will save taxpayers $20 million in interest costs that would otherwise have been due next September,” Pritzker says.
The payment of the federal loan, according to state officials, is necessary to supplement the state’s Trust Fund which allows payment of unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agreement also includes $450 million to go into the Trust Fund from state funds as an interest-free fund.
State officials say as the loan is repaid over the next decade, funding will be deposited directly into the state’s rainy-day fund.
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