Changes in Missouri’s unemployment compensation law are near passage by the Legislature. The bill has two purposes – to get the employment compensation fund solvent again and keep it there – and changing some standards for jobless Missourians. One provision says any worker fired for drug use will not be eligible for state unemployment benefits. The bill also increases unemployment taxes for employers by raising the base salaries on which taxes are assessed. That will help put more money into the unemployment trust fund. A way to pay back the federal government for the loans it has made to keep jobless payments going in Missouri is left to a special commission to discover. The state has to pay back those borrowed funds or employers will lose some federal tax credits.
