Workforce Secretary "We Are Talking About Fund Going Bankrupt

Louisiana's unemployment trust fund is facing a serious shortfall. Louisiana Work Force Commission Secretary Ava Dejoie says "we never thought we would talk about the fund going bankrupt, but we are now talking about the trust fund going bankrupt."

The President has signed an Executive Order calling for $400 dollars a week in unemployment benefits, but the states would have to pay 25% of the cost. Dejoie says her team has been working on a way to implement this plan without bankrupting our system. She says they have been working around the clock to get the money flowing again. $600 weekly benefits from the feds ran out in July and thousands of people are now left getting only $247 per week. Dejoie says she hopes to have this new plan in place in the coming week.

Governor John Bel Edwards has also raised concerns about the solvency of the Louisiana fund. He says without some federal intervention the state unemployment trust fund will soon be depleted, and the state will have to start borrowing that money from the federal government.

Dejoie explains a couple of different options the state is working on to get the money moving again. She also discusses the requirement for thousands on unemployment to show that they are at least trying to seek employment, but she describes some of the exceptions to that requirement.

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