Governor Parnell on Thursday signed House Bill 76, a bill he himself sponsored pertaining to automatic payroll tax increases.

The bill gives the Department of Labor Commmissioner the discretion to stop automatic payroll tax increases when the Unemployment Insurance Fund is deemed solvent.

The bill was intoduced and read for the first time in mid-January of this year and passed the House on April 11th on a vote of 33-6. The bill passed in the Senate two days later on the 13th of April with a vote of 19-1.

It was announced that the Alaska Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund had a balance of $294 million as of June 15th of this year.

“Alaskans work hard for their money, and today we are ensuring they’re able to keep more of their paychecks,” Governor Parnell said. “Alaska’s small businesses and workers will not be paying more each year in payroll taxes when the UI Fund is solvent, and that’s good for our economy. I appreciate legislators for standing with me as we work to lower Alaskans’ taxes and create opportunity across the state.”