Mike Levin: “I am pleased to join them in supporting this legislation to end a form of tax fraud called SUTA. I think everybody…”

“I am pleased to join them in supporting this legislation to end a form of tax fraud called SUTA. I think everybody should understand it is State Unemployment Tax Account dumping. I am proud that a company in my home State of Michigan, Kelly Services, was one of the first to blow the whistle on this abusive practice. Really, Kelly Services and their leadership played an indispensable role, and I think it is good for the free enterprise system of this country when people within the business community step up and say, Something is wrong; some others are not playing by the rules. One of the fundamental principles of the unemployment compensation system is that each employer pays their fair share based on their company's layoff patterns. Employers who frequently lay off workers pay higher taxes. This ensures, first of all, fairness; and also it creates a financial incentive for employers to avoid layoffs whenever possible. But in recent years, some companies, aided by unscrupulous accounting firms, used loopholes in the law to make it appear that their layoff rates were much lower than they actually were. We are told that these practices are not technically illegal, but they should be; and this bill will ensure that they are.”