Associated Press (04/11/12) Randy Patrick

A bill signed into law by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear on April 11
aims to save the state’s employers millions of dollars in
higher federal unemployment insurance taxes by allowing the state
to issue revenue bonds to make interest payments on $963 million
in federal loans used to operate the state’s unemployment
insurance program during the recession. A $21-per-employee
surcharge will be imposed on employers starting in 2014 to cover
the first three years of interest payments at $79 million, as
well as to cover future interest on the debt. A $600 million
federal tax credit for employers would have been lost if the
state could not make the interest payments on the Sept. 30 due
date, and the federal unemployment insurance tax paid by
employers would have surged to $420 per employee from $63.