Late last week, Iowa Gov., Kim Reynolds, announced the redirection of nearly half a billion dollars to aid in ensuring Iowans continue to receive unemployment insurance benefits and enable employers to remain in Tax Table 7 for 2021. The $490 million comes from the $1.25 billion of coronavirus relief funds the state received through the CARES Act. “As we move forward with recovery, I want to minimize the pandemic’s impact on employers so they can focus on growing and reinvesting in Iowa,” Reynolds says. “Iowa’s employers continue to do an outstanding job during these unprecedented times and today’s action will provide them greater certainty. This move also ensures that our trust fund remains healthy and in a position to weather any storm, including COVID-19.” Iowa Workforce Development Director, Beth Townsend, says keeping employers in Tax Table 7 saves them more than $400 million in unemployment taxes. “From the beginning of the pandemic, Iowa has not been charging employers with claims made by laid off employees to ensure employers would not see their tax rates go up because of these claims,” she says.
