Altogether, states still owe $37.6 billion to the federal government that they borrowed when their unemployment insurance trust funds sank to zero.

Unemployment Insurance reforms should be considered, including eliminating the "firewall" between administrative costs and benefits, reducing cross-subsidies to high-layoff employers, and relying more on face-to-face training and advising. More significant reforms that could be considered include adopting elements of state workers' compensation programs and experimenting with individual accounts.

Michigan's Gov. Snyder has asked lawmakers for $38.25 million from the state's general fund to help pay an interest bill on Michigan's $3.1 billion federal unemployment insurance debt.

Unemployment rates in the states were little changed in August 2011, according to figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on September 16, 2011. 

A lifeline of extended unemployment benefits on Monday started reaching the first of about 47,000 jobless North Carolina workers caught for seven weeks in a partisan political conflict, but questions persisted about whether Gov. Beverly Perdue had the authority to unfreeze the money.

In rare Saturday session, the state House and Senate held brief meetings to send a controversial bill linking the state budget and unemployment benefits to Gov. Bev Perdue.

States had over $48.3 billion in loans from the federal government for unemployment insurance.  States owe the federal government over $500 million in interest on these loans.

The federal government is helping some states shore up their unemployment-insurance funds and President Barack Obama wants to do more, but states in better shape aren't getting the help. Is that fair?

The Federal Unemployment Account (FUA) provides for a loan fund for state unemployment programs to ensure a continued flow of benefits during times of economic downturn. 30 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands are currently borrowing to cover unemployment benefits. Five states, Maryland, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, have repaid their loans in full. This report lists the most recent balances of outstanding state loans.

Changes in the formula to fund Medicaid programs, and interest on money the state borrowed to pay unemployment claims, will cost Nevada about $320 million over the next two years.

New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that will ensure the money workers pay into the unemployment and temporary disability funds can't be used to plug future holes in the state budget.

The Legislature's budget analyst reported Wednesday that the deficit in the recession-battered Unemployment Insurance Fund "is projected to increase to approximately $20 billion at the end of 2011."

With legislative budget hearings looming, Gov. Mike Beebe is urging budgetary caution even as he ponders another cut in the state sales tax on groceries.  Lawmakers begin three-day-a-week budget hearings next month ahead of the 2011 legislative session, amid signs of life in the state’s economy.

Due to record high unemployment claims and in many cases poor financial planning, 25 states have run out of funds and been forced to borrow from the federal government, raise taxes or cut benefits. Increasingly, those fiscal woes are landing at the doorstep of business owners and unemployed workers. Employers in 36 states face unemployment insurance tax increases ranging from a few dollars to nearly $1,000 per worker for 2010, and six states have taken steps to cut back or freeze benefits.  This table compares the average unemployment tax in each state.

But as the reserves dwindle toward zero and the stimulus money disappears, keeping the political debate friendly and the budget in the black will be another challenge entirely.

The state's spending plan increases actual spending over the current fiscal year, adds 864 full-time positions to the state payroll and offers a misguided package of targeted tax breaks intended to help small business job growth.

Governors hamstrung by the sluggish economic rebound in their states and bound to balance their own budgets are pressing anew for Washington to step up with more help, some say even if it means adding to the nation's red ink although other disagree.

Summary, commentary, and notes for Gov. Linda Lingle's State of the State address delivered January 25, 2010

Last Monday, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill that broadly reforms Florida’s unemployment compensation program. The new law makes Florida the only state in the country to tie state benefits to unemployment rates.

Starting this year, the states will have to make $1.4 billion in interest payments on those loans. This could mean higher taxes on the struggling business community or further strains on already broken state budgets, but it also presents an opportunity for reform.

Is the bankruptcy option for states an effective tool to address the looming state fiscal crises?

Despite intense lobbying from President Obama and governors, the U.S. Senate has rejected an effort to increase one-time federal Medicaid funds that states across the nation gambled would be approved. 

Though some states are voicing their concerns about the burdens that they will have to bear as a result of the newly passed healthcare bill, they will likely face financial disaster even without any new federal mandates. The unfunded pension obligations of all units of government has reached a crises level.

Reality based budgeting expert puts "real" PA budget debt at $100 billion