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Pritzker signs plan to eliminate debt in unemployment fund

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks during an assembly on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at Benito Juarez Community Academy High School.
  • Photo: Manuel Martinez / WBEZ

SPRINGFIELD — The governor of Illinois has signed into law a measure that officials say will eliminate a $1.8 billion debt in the pandemic-battered account that pays out unemployment benefits.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker says that an unexpected surge in revenue fuels the plan.

It was brokered by business and labor, as well as Democrats and Republicans.

It pays off a $1.36 billion federal loan distributed to Illinois when COVID-19 shuttered businesses in 2020 and sent unemployment rates to 40-year highs.

That loan’s retirement carried a $20 million interest payment due next fall.

It also puts an additional $450 million into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

 

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Associated Press

Associated Press

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