TRENTON – Senator Fred H. Madden, D-Camden and Gloucester, who chairs the Senate Labor Committee, today released the following statement regarding the panel’s joint public hearing on the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund:
“Today we heard testimony from representatives of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, who noted that New Jersey has one of the highest Unemployment Insurance benefit rates in the nation. What must be considered, however, is that we also have one of the highest costs of living, and we are the most densely populated states in the United States, so our numbers will always be a little higher than states in other areas of the country.
“Too often, numbers and statistics are presented to the public with no explanation or basis. Our focus should be on ensuring that stable funding levels are maintained to help unemployed residents make ends meet.
“New Jersey is one of the only states that requires employees to pay into their Unemployment Insurance. Unemployed New Jerseyans rely on this insurance to take care of their families, and consistently reducing the amount of funding to which they’re entitled –after having made them pay into the program while employed — is unfair.” #