Beshear signs bill giving COVID-related relief to businesses

Gov. Andy Beshear has signed into law a bill providing another round of coronavirus-related relief to Kentucky employers on their unemployment insurance tax assessments.

The business-backed measure was signed Thursday. It allows employers to continue using the unemployment insurance assessment rate set for 2020 before COVID-19 hit.

The new law freezes the rate for a second straight year. After signing the bill, the Democratic governor said the “same compassion” should be shown for vulnerable Kentuckians as for businesses.

Beshear is feuding with the Republican-dominated legislature over measures overhauling the state’s social-safety net.