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EurekaFacts has not contributed to the state's unemployment insurance trust fund crisis, having not laid off any workers in the past year or so.

In fact, business is growing, says Jorge Restrepo, president of the Rockville market research and analysis business.

But Eureka's payments to the dwindling fund, which pays out jobless benefits to the unemployed, will likely more than triple this year. The minimum rate employers are paying is now $187 per employee, up from $51 last year. Legislators this week debated a bill that would lower the minimum rate to $153, but come with future costs.

That huge increase doesn't seem fair to employers that have done everything they can to retain workers, Restrepo said this week.

"Those companies still left standing now are burdened with these extra costs," Restrepo said. "It's especially hard on small businesses. If we keep strapping businesses with these extra burdens, people might look at the price of doing business here and go elsewhere."

State political, labor and business leaders negotiated hard this week on a proposal by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) designed to reduce employers' payments to the trust fund this year by $83 million. The plan would expand unemployment eligibility and benefits requirements so the state can qualify for $126.8 million in federal stimulus funds.

Business groups, such as the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and Maryland Retailers Association, oppose the plan, saying it will increase costs in the long run.

Sen. Thomas McLain Middleton (D-Dist. 28) of Waldorf, who has coordinated negotiations over unemployment insurance with business and labor groups, said Thursday that he thought he had a workable deal this week. But business leaders said that while they appreciate Middleton's and other officials' efforts, there were too many unknowns involved.

"I haven't given up, yet," said Middleton, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and co-chairman of the legislature's Joint Committee on Unemployment Insurance Oversight.

Middleton said he is highly sympathetic to concerns expressed by Restrepo and others about the tax increase, and that's what is driving him to seek some relief.

"The issue here is to try to bring some relief to the struggling business community," he said. "They are getting hit with new rates that are posing a financial hardship. Some run the risk of losing their businesses."

Any plan that accepts the stimulus funds and reduces what businesses pay this year will likely make Maryland employers pay higher rates for a longer period of time, said Ronald Adler, CEO of Laurdan Associates, a human resources consulting firm in Potomac. Adler is the Maryland chamber's representative on the Joint Committee on Unemployment Insurance Oversight.

Chamber leaders estimated that if the state accepted the stimulus funds and had to expand eligibility and benefits requirements, the move would cost employers almost $20 million more per year.

The compromise plan had numerous other items added to it with "intended and unintended consequences," Adler said this week. Maryland chamber president and CEO Kathleen T. Snyder reiterated that concern this week on a blog on the Web site of the Maryland Chamber Action Network, an alliance of chambers of commerce in the state.

The Maryland chamber supports some elements of O'Malley's bill, such as allowing payment plans and reducing the interest rate on delinquent payments, while wanting to see the rest of it referred to the oversight committee for review after this session, Adler and Snyder said.

Another bill introduced by Del. Ronald A. George (R-Dist. 30) of Arnold would reduce the highest unemployment tax rate by about $85 per employee for the average business. Under that plan, trust fund revenues would decrease by $123.3 million in fiscal 2010 due to the reduction in contributions, according to an analysis by the state Department of Legislative Services.

That bill could also draw out the length of time and increase employers' taxes to get the trust fund back to a healthy level, Adler said. Legislative proposals really need more time to be vetted by oversight committee, he added.

The state's unemployment insurance fund was down to $50.7 million in early February, plunging from $680.2 million a year earlier, according to state figures.

In the week that ended Jan. 30, Maryland paid out $21.9 million in unemployment benefits, according to state figures. That was down slightly from $22.6 million during the same week in 2009 but up from $12.3 million in the same week in 2008.

The state's unemployment rate in December was 7.5 percent, up from 5.4 percent a year earlier. Unemployment taxes are determined annually based on the amount of money in the trust fund as of the prior Sept. 30.

Employers pay the unemployment insurance taxes based on where work and services are performed, not where employees live, said Bernie Kohn, a spokesman for the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. If an employee lives in Washington, D.C., but works in Maryland, the employer pays the unemployment taxes for that employee to Maryland, he said.

Maryland is seeking short-term advances from the U.S. Treasury to prevent the fund's depletion, and officials estimate it will need about $250 million in advances. The federal stimulus law allows states to borrow funds for their trust funds on an interest-free basis through the end of 2010.