The order, which Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed Thursday, amended the state's public health emergency declaration to direct the Louisiana Workforce Commission to refrain from imposing the solvency tax. Under current law, if the state's Unemployment Trust Fund falls below $100 million, then a solvency tax is placed on employers. The Unemployment Trust Fund is currently at $49 million, according to the order.
The imposition of the tax would create a significant tax increase for employers in April 2021, the order said, and would slow the state's recovery from the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, Louisiana had the 17th-healthiest trust fund in the country, the governor's office said in a news release, with a balance of over $1 billion.
The order will expire Oct. 9 unless extended.
--Editing by Robert Rudinger.
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