SPRINGFIELD — Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced on Jan 25th, that the state has officially repaid the remaining $1.36 billion unemployment insurance (UI) Trust Fund debt. The payment was made possible after an historic agreement was reached between the state, and representatives from business, labor, and bipartisan members of the General Assembly. It was then signed into law by the Governor.

“I’m proud to announce that on Jan 25th, we officially paid off our state’s UI Trust Fund debt—further fueling Illinois’ strong economic trajectory,” said Governor Pritzker. “This achievement will save Illinois businesses hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade, and will save taxpayers $20 million in interest costs that would otherwise have been due next September.”

“IDES is proud of the hard work and dedication it took members of the agreed bill process to achieve repayment of the UI Trust Fund debt,” said IDES Acting Director Ray Marchiori. “IDES is committed to ensuring the health of this critical state resource as we recover our economy from the pandemic.”

In addition to the repayment of the federal loan, which was necessary to supplement the state’s Trust Fund to ensure payment of unemployment insurance benefits during the pandemic, the agreed bill allocates $450 million to be placed into the Trust Fund from state funds as an interest-free loan. As the loan is repaid over the next ten years, funds will be deposited directly into the state’s rainy-day fund.