A piece of legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Bob Holden could be in trouble. The Board of Unemployment Fund Financing has determined the plan to shore up the unemployment insurance fund through a tax on businesses would violate the Hancock Amendment. Attorney General Jay Nixon is a member of the Board. He says a tax hike like the one called for would require a vote of the people. Gary Marble, President of Associated Industries of Missouri, had claimed all along there was a Hancock violation, and had even considered legal action to deal with this situation. He says this would be an unfunded mandate. Several options are available to fix this problem. Nixon says one would be to have a special session of the Legislature, but he doesn’t expect that to happen in an election year.
