The cost of unemployment benefits will jump nearly 70%, with an additional six weeks of eligibility, under legislation approved by Democrats that now awaits Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature.

Michigan lawmakers approved a package of five bills to reform unemployment benefits on Tuesday in nearly party-line votes, pushed through by the Democratic majority.

Fiscal analysis showed that if the changes were in place this year, the costs would have outstripped revenues to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which collected $1.2 billion over the last year, WZZM reports.

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“Based on current trends and total pay outs in Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits ($763.1 million), the increase in the weekly benefit maximum could add an additional $531.1 million in additional pay outs annually in 2027. Expanding the number of allowable weeks from 20 to 26 could add between $76.3 to $104.5 million in additional pay outs annually,” the analysis read.

“In total, this could increase total pay outs to between $1.3 to $1.4 billion based on current pay out levels. Total pay outs would be even higher during an economic recession. The total would be less than the total amount of UI revenue generated, which currently is $1.2 billion and would decrease the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance, which is currently at $2.8 billion.”

State Rep. William Bruck, R-Erie, told MLive the “major cost increase” will be felt by employers across the state. Many of those employers in the restaurant and service industries are already bracing for added costs from minimum wage and paid leave laws that are expected to cost 40,000 to 60,000 jobs in the coming years.

“I’m not against individuals making more or getting more money, but when it comes to the unemployment, unemployment is not meant to be a living wage,” Bruck said. “It’s not meant to be an amount that someone can function on and not have to worry about getting another job. It’s there for a purpose. It’s there for a bridge, a short bridge, to get them from job A to job B, and we should not be putting more costs on employers in order for those individuals to get from job A to job B.”

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The changes, which cleared both chambers of the legislature this week, will boost maximum weekly benefits from what’s now $362 per week, plus $6 for each dependent, to $614 plus $26 for each dependent by Jan. 1, 2027.

After that point, the State Treasurer would continue to increase the weekly payout each year based on increases in the Consumer Price Index.

The bill package also expanded the number of weeks unemployed residents can receive benefits from 20 to 26.

Amanda Fisher, Michigan state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, told Michigan Advance the effort to double weekly benefits in three years is “too far too fast,” and will put the unemployment trust fund at risk.

“It is always important to remember that the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program is 100% employer funded,” she said. “And because of actions taken in 2011, including limiting duration of benefits, the UI Trust Fund was able to weather the pandemic, but was decimated in the process. Increasing benefits adds extra pressure to a system that has not yet recovered and would make weathering another economic downturn difficult.”

The effort also focuses attention on Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, which Rep. Tom Kunse, R-Clare, compared to a “dumpster fire” in the wake of revelations the UIA paid out billions to fraudsters during the pandemic.

Lawmakers grilled former UIA Director Julia Dale in April over an Office of Auditor General report that found the agency’s efforts to recover at least $5.6 billion in likely fraudulent unemployment overpayments during the pandemic were severely lacking.

A separate report from the Deloitte accounting firm estimated the UIA cost taxpayers $8.5 billion more than it should have between March 2020 and September 2021.

The UIA wrongly asked workers to repay benefits before determining whether worker appeals against the effort to claw back funds were submitted correctly or on time, which cost the state another $55 million through an ongoing class action lawsuit.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs in that case continue to solicit workers impacted through Dec. 20, WJBK reports.

“There’s some big challenges with the Unemployment Insurance Agency,” Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, told reporters when the bill package cleared the Senate. “What they passed … doesn’t do anything, it doesn’t fix the problems.”

UIA Director Dale, meanwhile, announced on Monday she’s leaving the UIA to take a job as CEO of the Detroit nonprofit Civilla, according to The Detroit News.

In a letter to staff announcing her departure, Dale patted herself on the back for reforming the UIA’s systems in the wake of the pandemic fiasco.

“As I look back over the last three years, I am amazed at the scale of what we have accomplished together,” Dale wrote. “From the tireless hours worked through a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic to overhauling our systems for workers and businesses, we have transformed a once-battered agency into something extraordinary — a national model for fast, fair, and fraud-free service.”

Michigan taxpayers will have to take her word for it, as the recently approved UIA reform package includes a provision in Senate Bill 976 that “blocks Freedom of Information Act requests of any records of the methods used by the UIA to identify and investigate fraudulent claims,” WZZM reports.