Middleton: Md. unemployment insurance tax cuts unlikely 

Posted: 12:33 pm Fri, February 5, 2010
By Nicholas Sohr
Daily Record Business Writer

ANNAPOLIS — Businesses should not expect to see $83 million in unemployment insurance tax cuts this year, a leader in the Maryland Senate said Friday morning after business and labor interests failed to reach a compromise on Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposed changes to the unemployment insurance system.

“I don’t think the tax cuts will be a reality. That’s my gut feeling right now,” said Thomas M. “Mac” Middleton, D-Charles.

Middleton’s remarks come one day after he said he was “optimistic” that businesses, labor unions and lawmakers would reach a compromise on changes to the state’s unemployment insurance taxes and benefits.

O’Malley’s proposal, filed as SB 107 and HB 91, would expand the benefits available to Marylanders to make the state eligible for $126.8 million in federal stimulus funds. That one-time infusion would bolster the cash-strapped Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and cover $83 million in tax breaks for businesses this year.

But businesses have lined up against the proposal, voicing their concerns that it would weaken the trust fund in the long term.

Middleton has been working with labor and business groups to find middle ground on the proposal. He said Friday the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation is analyzing different options to offset the benefit expansions included in the governor’s plan.