Bill Aimed At Averting 6% Increase For Colorado Employers Sent To 'Kill' Committee

DENVER (CBS4)- The pandemic caused tens of thousands of Coloradans to lose their jobs in 2020, causing the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to go broke. The state had to borrow $1 billion from the federal government.

In November, the bill is due. If Colorado doesn't pay back the loan, every employer in the state will be hit with a 6% increase in the federal unemployment tax.

State Senator Rob Woodward, a small business owner himself, has introduced a bill to avoid that.

"All I know is this has to be a priority to take care of unemployed folks and small business or we're going to crush both of them," said Woodward.

Democratic leadership in the Senate sent Woodward's bill to a so-called "kill" committee Friday but, he says, the governor's office intervened and postponed the hearing to work on a compromise.