HB 148 Unemployment Contribution Rate Change increases Unemployment Insurance (UI) rates by 200 – 300% or more and will cost New Mexico jobs.
Many employees were forced out of work and unemployment claims spiked to record levels. Through no fault of their own, over 120,000 New Mexicans have filed for unemployment benefits since March of last year. Employers were forced to layoff these workers under government orders. As a result, New Mexico’s UI fund reached insolvency in September 2020. That meant claims could not be paid until the state borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government.
Employees and employers MUST be held harmless for government imposed layoffs. That means the state government should repay the federal loans and replenish the UI fund to pre pandemic levels. HB 148 would increase costs by 200-300% or more and force more layoffs.
We encourage you to take less than a minute and reach out to Appropriations Committee members and your state representative to let them know this bill is bad for New Mexico and will cost jobs.