NY Senate Freezes Unemployment Insurance Tax Hike, Increases Unemployment Benefits

NEW YORK - The New York State Senate passed legislation Tuesday that freezes proposed hikes in unemployment- insurance taxes, and increases maximum unemployment benefits.

The bill freezes increases in the unemployment insurance taxes that businesses pay for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal year, preventing a previously scheduled tax hike from taking effect. Additionally, the legislation will increase the maximum unemployment benefit for workers who have lost their jobs, by up to 10.5%.

“So many of our state’s small businesses barely survived the challenges of the pandemic, and if we allow them to be hit with massive increases in their payroll taxes, many will be forced to close their doors for good,” said state Sen. Anna Kaplan, a Nassau County Democrat, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business, and sponsored the legislation. “At the same time, we can’t forget about workers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic and who rely on unemployment insurance benefits to make ends meet.”

State Sen. Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat who also voted for the legislation, said in a statement, “As people everywhere struggle with COVID-19’s resulting economic crisis, this measure will help both small business owners and unemployed New Yorkers when they need it the most.”

Kaplan said she would seek replenish the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund with an allocation in the state budget.

The legislation has not yet been introduced in the Assembly.