Employers in line for unemployment payroll tax cut

The change was made possible by 2021 state legislation (House Bill 3389), which will enable the trust fund to continued to be replenished from the downturn stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Employers pay into the fund, from which regular unemployment benefits are drawn for 26 weeks of payments to laid-off workers. Employees do not pay into the fund.

Congress also approved several rounds of federal pandemic benefits, including self-employed and gig workers who had never qualified for regular benefits. But those benefits ended around Labor Day. These do not affect the state fund.

The state bill was negotiated by both parties and signed by Gov. Kate Brown on July 27. It will save employers an estimated $2.2 billion over a decade.

Oregon, unlike other states, did not borrow from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits during the 2007-10 recession. The state does not anticipate borrowing as a result of pandemic recession.