Governor Mike Parson announced that he has authorized a transfer of $300 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) from the State Treasury into the state’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund to help keep the Trust Fund balance above the level that would trigger an increase in contribution tax rates for Missouri businesses.

Missouri employers wholly fund the state’s UI Trust Fund from which state unemployment benefits are provided to eligible workers who have lost their jobs. With thousands of Missourians unemployed during the pandemic, Missouri businesses would have likely seen an increase in their unemployment taxes to replenish the Trust Fund without this action.

As of February 2021, Missouri’s unemployment rate stands at 4.2 percent, a couple of points below the national average of 6.2 percent. While February rankings are not yet available, Missouri ranked 12th-lowest in the nation in unemployment in January 2021.

The transfer of CRF funds to the UI Trust Fund accompanies the Public Order that the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations issued last December under the Governor’s Executive Order to prevent increases in unemployment tax rates that are triggered when the average Trust Fund balance dips too low.

This fund transfer will help Missouri not follow the 20 other states which have depleted their UI Trust Funds and are borrowing money to pay unemployment benefits.