Central New Yorkers receiving unemployment benefits are about to see a big increase in their checks starting Monday. The maximum benefit jumps statewide from $504 per week to $869. Ian Greer is a research professor at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. He said the larger benefit covers essential expenses for those who lose a job through no fault of their own.
“They can continue spending and living, and that's good for them and their families because they don't go hungry and get evicted.”
Greer said the increase brings benefit levels in line with other northeast states, and with the state's higher cost of living. The state’s maximum payout was frozen for six years while it paid off debt in the trust fund. He said New York’s system is chronically in debt, and hasn’t been truly solvent since the mid 1970’s.
“There's some years where we build up surpluses in this trust fund, but it's never quite enough to pay for benefits when the recession hits," Greer said. "This creates a number of problems under law. One of them is that you start having to pay interest on the debt, and it's employers that pay that. And another thing that happens is you can't make changes that would affect solvency, such as increasing benefit levels,” he said.
That’s why the rate was frozen until now. Greer said New York’s system also fails to account for other benefits calibrated to the cost of living, such as a dependent allowance.
He said New York has one of the most under-financed systems in the country mainly due to a regressive tax structure that benefits large businesses and hurts small ones. Greer said he hopes state lawmakers tackle the issue before the next recession.
