Law lowers unemployment insurance premiums for start-ups

Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law Monday a bill that reduces the rate new businesses must pay for unemployment insurance.

The bill lowers the rate new employers must pay to 1.7 percent of the first $11,000 of an employee’s wages. Sponsored by Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, and Sen. Suzanne Williams, D- Aurora, the new law replaces the amount businesses would have had to pay under a 2011 law.

That law required new employers to pay premium rates of more than 3 percent per $11,000.

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New employers will now pay the lower rate unless they have benefits charged against them from an earlier business.

The legislation will mean the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund will see $24.4 million less over the next three fiscal years, according to the state.