Hawkeye Reporter

Gov. Kim Reynolds  (R-Iowa) put more money into the unemployment coffers last week as the state continued its battle against COVID-19, according to a press release from the Office of the Governor.

The CARES Act provided $1.25 billion in coronavirus relief funds and Reynolds directed $490 million to be put into Iowa's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. 

This means eligible residents can continue to pick up unemployment insurance benefits, and employers will remain in Tax Table 7 for 2021.

"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 said in a press release. “Iowa's employers continue to do an outstanding job during these unprecedented times and today’s action will provide them greater certainty." 

Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend said keeping employers in Tax Table 7 saves them over $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,” Townsend said.