{"id":604230,"date":"2026-05-19T16:14:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=604230"},"modified":"2026-05-19T16:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:14:34","slug":"gop-goes-after-blue-state-for-billions-in-covid-era-unemployment-debt-dumped-on-businesses-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=604230","title":{"rendered":"GOP goes after blue state for billions in COVID-era unemployment debt dumped on businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New legislation is targeting California and the $21 billion it owes to the federal government, requiring the state to repay what it owes and not dump the responsibility on business owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia\u2019s $18+ billion unemployment insurance debt is a direct result of Sacramento\u2019s fraud, mismanagement, and failure to prioritize taxpayers and job creators,\u201d\u00a0Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of paying down the debt when the state had a massive surplus, Gavin Newsom shifted the burden onto employers through automatic payroll tax hikes,\u201d added the GOP lawmaker who will introduce legislation that will limit the state\u2019s spending of federal money on programs until the outstanding debt is paid.<\/p>\n

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California\u2019s $18+ billion unemployment insurance debt is a direct result of Sacramento\u2019s fraud, mismanagement, and failure to prioritize taxpayers and job creators.<\/p>\n

Instead of paying down the debt when the state had a massive surplus, Gavin Newsom shifted the burden onto\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Vince Fong (@vfong) May 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMy legislation restores accountability and protects small businesses and workers from footing the bill for Sacramento\u2019s failures,\u201d Fong wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Fong\u2019s bill, California would have to direct eligible federal funds toward repayment within five business days of the money becoming available. If it violates that provision, the state would have to pay the full amount of misused funds to the federal government,\u201d Fox News reported, noting that the Golden State is the only one that has failed to repay federal COVID-19 funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the state did not pay back the debt within two years, federal law requires the state\u2019s employers to step in and pay up,\u201d KCRA reported on the crisis back in December. \u201cEach employer this upcoming year, regardless of the number of employees they have and whether they are part or full-time, will pay an extra $42 dollars per employee on their payroll taxes because of the debt. In 2027, the number increases to $63 and increases by another $21 per employee every year until the debt is paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

But rather than pay back the loans and take the burden off taxpayers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats have continued pouring funding into their agenda items, such as taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n

\u201cFraud and mismanagement aren\u2019t isolated incidents in Gavin Newsom\u2019s California \u2014 they\u2019ve become systemic failures with real consequences,\u201d Fong, a\u00a0former state legislator, said in a statement. \u201cRather than using the state\u2019s past $98 billion budget surplus to pay down that debt, Sacramento shifted the burden onto employers through automatic payroll tax hikes. Enough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

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New legislation is targeting California and the $21 billion it owes to the federal government, requiring the state to repay what it owes and not dump the responsibility on business owners. \u201cCalifornia\u2019s $18+ billion unemployment insurance debt is a direct result of Sacramento\u2019s fraud, mismanagement, and failure to prioritize taxpayers and job creators,\u201d\u00a0Rep. Vince Fong,… Continue reading GOP goes after blue state for billions in COVID-era unemployment debt dumped on businesses<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":604204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-604230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-empowerment","category-national-security","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=604230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/604204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=604230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=604230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=604230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}