SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Business and labor groups have agreed on a plan to erase a $1.8 billion debt in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday that a state budget surplus will pay off the debt. That includes $1.36 billion owed to the federal government. That money was borrowed during the COVID-19 pandemic when closed shops sent unemployment to levels not seen in 40 years. Another $450 million will go in the form of an interest-free loan which unemployment taxes on businesses will repay over the next 10 years. As businesses pay that back, money will be deposited into the state’s rainy day fund to help ensure stability during an economic downturn.
