Employers, schools, and nonprofits to get relief from unemployment costs with CARES Act funding

Gov. Andy Beshear announced last week that he would allocate $51.5 million of federal CARES Act funds to provide relief from unemployment insurance costs to 1,500 employers, including public schools, universities, government entities and nearly 1,000 nonprofits.

During the pandemic, the federal government allowed states to provide relief to employers that reimburse the state 100% on unemployment insurance claims paid on their behalf. However, the federal government only covered 50% of the costs. The Governor is applying CARES funds to eliminate the other 50% owed by these employers to the state Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

Combining both the state and federal portions, the state unemployment trust fund will receive a $103 million boost to help continue to pay the federal unemployment insurance loan.

“We wanted to provide relief to our schools, government entities and our non-profits who have been hit hard by this pandemic, but continued to do so much to help Kentuckians through this crisis,” said Gov. Beshear. “We need everyone ready to help us emerge from this pandemic prepared to build a better, brighter commonwealth for all Kentuckians.”