Can some of the money from the Toll Road lease be used for unemployment benefits?

By Kirk Mason (mason@wsbt.com)

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Unemployed at WorkOne

Long lines are a common sight outside area WorkOne offices. (Tribune File Photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Jan 26, 2009 at 2:49 PM EST

Story Updated: Mar 4, 2009 at 3:22 PM EST

The rising number of unemployed people across Indiana is creating another problem. Indiana is being forced to borrow money to cover the cost of its Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

Diane Kershner of Elkhart has a Good Question: Can some of the money from the Toll Road lease be used for unemployment benefits?

It's a daily sight in Elkhart County right now. Head to the WorkOne office and you’ll see long lines of people filing for unemployment benefits. That push is creating a big problem that's growing larger each day.

Mark Lotter, spokesman for Indiana WorkOne, says the state has now borrowed close to $262 million to fund its now under-funded Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

He says the problem was already here when the economy was good. That's because money for the fund comes partly through insurance premiums companies pay. That pay was cut, while benefits increased. Now add in the crunch of newly unemployed and the fund has a major problem.

State lawmakers have already held meetings to talk about this issue, but what will be done is not clear.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels talked about the fund when he was in Elkhart Friday. He didn't rule out using federal dollars from the expected passing of President Obama's $825 billion economic stimulus package.

“Well one way or another that's a possibility," Daniels said. "But again we ought to look at every possibility."

But the lease of the Indiana Toll Road, which brought the state billions of dollars, is not the solution.

That's because the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is separate from the state's budget, and under the agreement of the lease that money has to go toward road projects anyway.

Indiana is reportedly paying 4.8 percent interest on the money it's borrowing for the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

But the state is sitting on a more than $1 billion surplus.

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