A new program has been announced to help keep Hoosiers in their homes and current on their mortgages despite unforeseen unemployment.
The Building the Bridge to Recovery program will provide over $221 million in assistance to more than 13,000 Indiana homeowners who meet eligibility requirements.
To qualify, applicants must be a homeowner, owning only one home and must reside in that home. Unemployed applicants must currently be receiving unemployment insurance benefits. Recently re-employed applicants are also eligible for assistance if they had received unemployment insurance benefits at any time up to twelve months prior to being rehired. Applicants’ income must be at or below 140 percent of their county’s Area Median Income.
Aimed at reducing home foreclosures in Indiana and stabilizing communities, eligibility includes job training and education conditions to help participants acquire skills to help expedite re-entry into the workforce.
The agencies and state operations listed among the “other” designation of the budget include public safety (excluding corrections), economic development, conservation and the environment, transportation, gaming and redistributions to local units.
Transportation: The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is responsible for the maintenance, preservation and construction of the state’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Transportation funding is largely a product of federal and dedicated funds. The 2011 budget appropriated $4.5 billion of primarily dedicated and federal funds in FY12 and FY13. The amount marked a 23 percent decrease from the total combined appropriation for transportation in FY10 and FY11 of $5.9 billion and was the result of significantly lower support from dedicated funds in FY12 and especially FY13. Continue reading ‘Budget Brief: The final piece of the Budget Breakdown’
The Indiana General Assembly considered a number of measures related to the workplace, and the following summary briefly describes some of the bills that were approved.
Indiana Business Price Preferences: One of the few bills approve this year that may directly help small businesses and their employees in Indiana, House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1183 provides an additional preference for purchases made by a state agency for supplies manufactured, assembled, or produced by an Indiana business in Indiana. The act also allows a 10% price preference for agricultural products grown in Indiana.
“Right to Work”: After weeks of protests at the Statehouse by thousands of laborers, teachers and students over bills that would have a negative impact on working families, at least one compromise was reached over the “Right to Work” measure proposed by House Republicans. In it’s original form, House Bill (HB) 1468 would have made it illegal for a group of unionized workers to require each employee who enjoys the benefits of a negotiated contract’s terms to pay organizational dues for negotiation and policing the contract. While the bill has been portrayed as a matter of employee choice, the National Labor Relations Act within federal law already affords protection for workers from forced union membership.
An agreement to put this bill aside and move the topic to a summer legislative study, not a change in state law, was one factor in the House Democrats return to the Statehouse in late March. Look for the topic to be discussed this summer in a legislative study committee.
The Indiana Senate Tax and Fiscal Committee heard House Bill 1450 on Thursday, which would change how unemployment benefits are calculated. The bill would reduce the weekly average from $238 to $212 while the average benefits in the U.S. are $295 per week. To repay the state’s $2.6 billion loan from the federal government, the bill would collect an additional surcharge from businesses. Additionally, to bring the fund in balance, it would raise the taxes paid by businesses but not as much as they would have been raised under the law that went into effect January first of this year.
State Senator Karen Tallian says that dropping the weekly benefits would take too much spent money out of the state’s economy. As a co-sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Tallian will be closely involved in negotiating changes to this legislation and says she plans to offer various alternatives to the bill as it moves through the process.
SEN. TALLIAN: “Right now we could be taking $400 Million out of the economy…” (Length: 02:30)
On October 8 we posted an update from Sen. Karen Tallian about the state’s activity to reduce employer misclassification of workers. The article “Worker misclassification costs state big bucks” published on Sunday in The Times of Northwest Indiana (nwi.com) provides a nice summary of how employers are to make the correct determination:
For your information
The Internal Revenue Service suggests employers determine whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor based on a worker’s genuine independence from the employer.
In general, the more control an employer has over the worker, the more likely it is that worker should be paid as an employee and not an independent contractor.
The IRS recommends employers use the following questions to determine their level of control over their workers:
Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job?
Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.)
Are there written contracts or employee type benefits (i.e. pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business?
The Pension Management Oversight Committee took up the issue of worker misclassification during a Statehouse meeting on Wednesday, September 29. The committee heard from Dept of Labor Commissioner Lori Torres about guidelines and procedures for investigating misclassification questions and complaints.
The Dept of Labor was required to make the presentation under Senate Enrolled Act 23 approved in 2010. The Act required Dept of Labor to develop “guidelines and procedures for investigating questions and complaints concerning employee classification and a plan for implementation of those guidelines and procedures” and to implement and adopted rule by August 1, 2011.
States across the country have identified the misclassification of employees as independent contractors as a problem from multiple perspectives. Workers, businesses and government are all disadvantaged in varying degrees and ways by worker misclassification. Worker misclassification occurs when a worker who meets the statutory or common law definition of an employee is treated as a self employed worker or independent contractor. Whether by agreement, out of ignorance or misunderstanding, or intentionally, there are employers who fail to properly claim a worker as an employee. An employer does not avoid its obligation by failing to acknowledge a worker as an employee, but enforcing compliance with the law can be made more difficult.
Workers are disadvantaged when they are deprived of minimum wage or overtime pay and are forced to pay the employer’s portion of withholding taxes. Furthermore, they are left with no recourse if they are injured on the job, as they have no worker’s compensation coverage, and are not protected by occupational safety and health rules which also cover only employees. Those same workers have no access to the protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Family Medical Leave Act, among others. Some misclassification is discovered only when a worker is injured and seeks worker’s compensation coverage, only to find that none exists. Other misclassification is an intentional act on behalf of both the employer and the employee to avoid the reporting of wages and payment of tax obligations. Less sophisticated workers may not understand that despite an employer’s attempt to characterize them as non-employees, if they meet the definition, the employer is required to meet its obligations for them.
Employers are disadvantaged when competitors misclassify employees and accordingly have lower labor costs. They lose work to these employers who are seemingly rewarded for their misclassification. These employers generally fail to keep records required of employers in Indiana. Additionally, those same employers avoid the need to document a worker’s right to work legally in the U.S. and Indiana.
Governments are disadvantaged when employers fail to pay premiums to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund for individuals deemed employees by UI law. Governments also are harmed by the failure of an employer to withhold taxes on an employee, particularly due to the increased challenges of recovering taxes due directly from an individual. Furthermore, those individuals that are injured on the job without the workers compensation safety net to which they are entitled often becomes users of other social services as a result of those injuries and their inability to work.
Seasonally-adjusted total non-farm employment in Indiana increased by 1,500 in February. Sectors reporting employment increases include: Professional and Business Services (5,400), Private Health and Education (2,200), Manufacturing (1,800), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (1,400), and Leisure and Hospitality (1,100). Sectors reporting employment declines include: Government (-6,600), Construction (-1,900), and Other Services (-1,500).
Indiana remains the only state of its neighbors that has an unemployment rate below 10%, and the only state in the U.S. to report year-to-year unemployment growing less than one percent.
The second session of the 116th Indiana General Assembly is near completion. The statutory deadline to finish all business is midnight Sunday, March 14, and it looks as though lawmakers will remain in negotiations throughout the weekend.
Two major issues which drew the most attention during the final week included public school funding and unemployment insurance.
Public schools – Providing schools the flexibility to transfer dedicated funds into their operating accounts was necessitated this session by the governor’s decision in January to cut $300 million from school funding. Contained in House Bill (HB) 1367, one provision would give schools greater flexibility to tap into various funds and funnel those dollars into the classroom. At issue is the topic of tying a school’s ability to make those transfers to an agreement for teachers to forgo pay increases. Conference committee members are also debating the inclusion of provisions that would mandate statewide school start dates to after Labor Day and end dates to June 10, and to evaluate the costs of holding back third grade students who cannot read.
Unemployment – In light of continuing economic problems, lawmakers decided to revisit unemployment insurance reform passed with bipartisan support last year. A one year delay of the changes is being sought under Senate Bill (SB) 23. This delay would be extended to two years if the state unemployment rate remains at or above a certain percentage. While many employers would benefit from the delay, an estimated 45,798 Indiana employers, or more than 1 out of 3 businesses in the state, would see unemployment insurance tax costs decrease this year under the 2009 changes.
Also on the negotiating table is language that would enhance enforcement and increase penalties against employers that inappropriately classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees. By misclassifying employees as independent contractors, employers are able to avoid paying unemployment insurance taxes on those workers. The strength of that regulation language is yet to be worked out.
School funding – Under HB 1367, Indiana schools would be provided greater flexibility to tap into various funds and funnel those dollars into the classroom. In the most recent conference committee report, the measure would allow financially-strapped schools to utilize up to 3.5 percent of their capital projects fund without restrictions. The legislation is a result of action taken by the governor in early January when he imposed funding cuts of $300 million on K-12 education as state tax collections continue to fall below expectations. Passage of this legislation will enable schools to transfer unused monies from any fund, except debt service, to their general fund.
Unemployment insurance – Lawmakers are still wrangling over legislation that would avert a scheduled increase in unemployment insurance taxes on businesses. The tax increase was approved last session to help replenish the bankrupt state unemployment insurance trust fund. The state has borrowed more than $1 billion from the federal government to pay unemployment claims. Suggested changes to SB 23 have included postponing the increase for two years as well as a repeal of the tax increase. Also at issue are changes in state law that would allow Indiana to access federal stimulus funds for unemployment.
Net metering – Expanded net metering opportunities is the goal of SB 313 now in conference committee. This legislation would help reduce utility bills and increase renewable energy production in Indiana. Net metering laws allow consumers who generate excess electricity through wind mills, solar panels and other renewable energy technologies, to send any excess power back onto the electric grid for a credit on their utility bill. Current law limits participation to homeowners and schools with a generating capacity of 10 kilowatts or less. The legislation would expand net metering opportunities to all consumers, and place much of the rule-making authority with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
Township government reform – Legislation which would allow for a public referendum to allow voters to decide whether to eliminate township boards and trustees is still under negotiation. Under HB 1181, township duties and responsibilities would be transferred to counties.
Negotiations on all of these issues will continue into next week.
A new program has been announced to help keep Hoosiers in their homes and current on their mortgages despite unforeseen unemployment.
