Incorrect FUD from the Hoover Institution, as usual.
California borrowed money from the federal government on behalf of CA businesses to make unemployment payments out of the state unemployment fund due to the massive layoffs in the early days of the COVID lockdowns. CA did not increase the state UI payments to cover these massively increased costs (as this would have been a permanent increase in rates) and instead chose to have it repaid by businesses in the form of a reduction of FUTA credits until the borrowed debt is paid off.
The total comes out to about $21/employee for affected businesses. Despite the Hoover Institution's fearmongering, and the Republican opinion piece in the OC Register linked to elsewhere in these comments, not all CA businesses are affected.
California borrowed money from the federal government on behalf of CA businesses to make unemployment payments out of the state unemployment fund due to the massive layoffs in the early days of the COVID lockdowns. CA did not increase the state UI payments to cover these massively increased costs (as this would have been a permanent increase in rates) and instead chose to have it repaid by businesses in the form of a reduction of FUTA credits until the borrowed debt is paid off.
The total comes out to about $21/employee for affected businesses. Despite the Hoover Institution's fearmongering, and the Republican opinion piece in the OC Register linked to elsewhere in these comments, not all CA businesses are affected.