House Panel Votes to Raise Revolving Fund for Jobless
ÐÊ A House subcommittee yesterday approved an 'expansion of the federal revolving fund that en-jables hardrhit states to keep paying unemploy -</br></br>ÐÊ A House subcommittee yesterday approved an 'expansion of the federal revolving fund that en-jables hardrhit states to keep paying unemploy - $6.8 billion unemployment trust fund, the ÛÏbankÛ from which high-unemployment states borrow to , keep unemployment benefits flowing.</br></br>The expansion bill is expected to be approved quickly by the .full committee, and could become a vehicle for other Democratic proposals to'relieve unemployment.</br></br>In another hearing room nearby, meanwhile, Govs. James J. Blanchard of Michigan and Richard L. Thornburgh of Pennsylvania, among others, told a Ways and Means subcommittee that they are in urgent need of relief from the interest charges on their unemployment trust fund debts. Pennsylvania owes the government $100 million ; in interest for its $1.1 billion loan from the fund this year alone, Thornburgh said. If the system is not changed, he added, ÛÏWe estimate that Pennsylvania will have to pay more than $2.5 billion in interest on our federal loans by 1989.Û</br></br>Michigan has borrowed $2.3 billion from the federal government since 1980 to maintain its jobless benefits, Blanchard said. ÛÏOur interest charges are currently $216,000 per day.Û