By GEORGE MALEK Chamber of Commerce

s if slow sales, tight credit and thin margins weren't enough to put businesses under, firms in Montpelier have endured back-to-back summers of intensive roadwork and Barre companies face the same in the years ahead.

And now comes a rise – or rather eruption – in unemployment taxes. If legislators show humane restraint, unemployment taxes will merely double. If legislators decide to show how generous they can be to the unemployed, the rate could increase four or five fold.

For some businesses, the increase in unemployment payments would have to be offset by reducing payroll. How ironic is it to reduce payroll to pay for unemployment?

Commissioner of Labor Patricia Moulton-Powden has proposed doubling the business tax as the key element in providing assistance to the unemployed while (hopefully) recapitalizing the unemployment fund over five years. Other elements include reinstating a customary one-week delay before benefits begin, capping weekly maximum payments at $400, and denying benefits to workers who quit voluntarily or are dismissed for gross misconduct like theft or violence in the workplace.

Some legislators prefer to provide "Cadillac" unemployment benefits no matter how great the burden on businesses. Somehow, they manage to fault business for the rise in unemployment or the lack of unlimited dollars in the unemployment trust fund or both.

While the vast majority of businesses have as much empathy for the unemployed as legislators do, their harsh reality is meeting Friday's payroll, not securing enough votes to win an upcoming election.

Far too many Vermont businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and the unemployment tax is only one of many cost increases they face.

The state is staring at a budget deficit of more than $200 million, and legislators don't expect to achieve balance through cost-cutting alone. With elections next fall, taxing voters won't be attractive.

Businesses should expect to pay their fair share, but paying for extravagance or paying more than their fair share will put some businesses under.

That will leave them paying nothing at all, and no one's benefits.

(Chamber Notes, provided by the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, is a regular feature of the business section. George Malek is executive vice president of the Chamber).