BATON ROUGE -- Louisiana senators Tuesday began moving legislation to keep the bankruptcy of the state unemployment trust fund from triggering business tax increases and a drop in benefits for jobless workers during the coronavirus outbreak.
But lawmakers and Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards still have no plan for refilling the depleted fund as Louisiana will begin to borrow money from the federal government today to pay unemployment benefits.
"It's probably the worst situation you can imagine, because every way you turn, it's bad," said New Orleans Sen. Troy Carter, the Democratic chairman of the Senate labor committee.
The panel advanced a package of measures sponsored by Senate President Page Cortez, a Lafayette Republican, and Sen. Mike Reese, a Leesville Republican.