California may pay unemployment to striking workers. But the fund to cover it is already insolvent

By ADAM BEAM
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Some California lawmakers want to make striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits. The push in the final weeks of the state’s legislative session is in response to multiple strikes. That includes hotel workers in Southern California, and Hollywood actors and writers. California does not have enough money to pay all of the unemployment benefits workers are owed today. The fund is filled by a tax businesses pay on their workers wages. But the tax has not changed since 1984 and is among the lowest in the country. Labor unions say workers should not be punished for businesses not paying enough taxes.