State officials have paid down $2.8 billion owed to the federal government. The debt came from money used to pay unemployment benefits during the recession.
That debt climbed to $2.8 billion in early 2013. Months later, lawmakers then passed controversial House Bill 4, which did the following:
- Decreased the amount of time a person can be on unemployment
- Cut maximum payments by a third
- Increased unemployment insurance taxes for businesses.
"I don't know in my lifetime if I've ever heard of any level of government paying off two point six billion in debt in 24 months - and I'm not sure I ever will," said Dale Folwell, Assistant Secretary of the Commerce Department.
According to the General Assembly's fiscal research office, three fourths of the repayment money came from cuts to jobless benefits.