Senate rejects UI rate freeze
The Senate passed a $196 million spending bill on Thursday after rejecting a proposal to freeze unemployment insurance rates paid by employers — a provision the House adopted when it passed its version of the bill on Wednesday.
Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, who filed the amendment to freeze the unemployment insurance rates, said there is a belief in the Senate that UI reforms will be passed in the Legislature before an April deadline. The amendment was rejected without debate.
"My understanding, it was the belief of the Senate that our bill that was passed through the Senate will prevail, and make unnecessary a separate freeze. I think this may be well an issue that we have to revisit," Tarr said after the session.
In the past few years, the Legislature has repeatedly frozen unemployment insurance rates paid by businesses. The Senate recently passed legislation making reforms to the system, and last year approved a separate bill raising the minimum wage. House Speaker Robert DeLeo has repeatedly said he would like to tie the two issues together, but a bill has yet to emerge for debate.
Tarr said since the House included the UI freeze in the spending bill it may be an issue that comes up in conference committee on the two bills.
"For today there wasn't a lot of debate on it because I think everyone is engaging in the good faith and the hope that the larger bill will pass," Tarr said. "But that's not guaranteed."
House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey said Wednesday the rate freeze needed to be done before bills went out to businesses. Dempsey said the House planned to take up legislation reforming unemployment insurance later this session.
"The reason we are adopting the freeze today is really one of management because the bills have to go out and if we do not take action today it becomes a very challenging situation," Dempsey said.
Senate Majority Leader Stan Rosenberg wouldn't comment on the strategy or say if the Senate leadership was trying to pressure the House into action on more comprehensive unemployment insurance reforms.
"There's time to get it to the finish line," Rosenberg said.
The Senate added nearly $40 million to the spending bill that will give cities and towns money to pay for snow and ice removal, fund sheriff departments operations, and steers millions of dollars to address a homelessness problem across the state that has not subsided.
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