By: Nicholas Sohr

Maryland is expected to tap a federal line of credit next week that will allow the state to keep paying unemployment benefits. When it does, it won’t be alone.

As with the unemployment issue, state officials have benefited from tougher economic climates elsewhere as bases for comparison – the jobless rate in Michigan, the housing market in Arizona and budgeting woes in California, to name a few.

When Maryland borrows from the U.S. Department of Labor to keep its Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund afloat, it will be the 28th jurisdiction to do so, following 26 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Those other states have nearly $30 billion in outstanding federal loans.

Julie Squire, the DLLR assistant secretary who oversees the unemployment insurance division, said the state has been able to put off borrowing until next week because of a low number of delinquent tax payments and steady claims numbers.

The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation expects to borrow $250 million interest-free and pay it all back this year. The infusion will keep the fund solvent until the end of April, when the first wave of tax payments is expected.

Here’s the list of other states that have borrowed. The dollar figures are in millions. And yes, that means California has had to cover a deficit in its trust fund that is more than three times larger than the deficit expected in Maryland’s state budget for next year.

State	Loan Balance
Alabama	$175.2
Arkansas	$253.5
California	$6,609.8
Connecticut	$3.3
Florida	$235.4
Georgia	$1,137
Idaho	$139
Illinois	$1,382.1
Indiana	$1,571.5
Kentucky	$619
Michigan	$3,326.4
Minnesota	$372.9
Missouri	$514.5
Nevada	$183
New Jersey	$1,116.5
New York	$2,390.3
North Carolina	$1,723.1
Ohio	$1,857.3
Pennsylvania	$2,130.5
Rhode Island	$146.2
South Carolina	$735.3
South Dakota	$11.7
Texas	$1,518.6
Virgin Islands	$9.9
Virginia	$170
Wisconsin	$1,025.6
TOTAL	$29,488.2