As more hard-working Pennsylvanians join the ranks of the unemployed through no fault of their own, they rely on the state's Unemployment Compensation program for modest weekly payments to help their families get by. Meanwhile, the state continues to borrow millions from the federal government to pay their claims.

But neither the worst recession since the Great Depression nor the resulting spike in unemployment that caused the state to lose one in every 37 jobs has depleted the Unemployment Compensation fund. They have simply brought to the forefront the need to fix the system that helps our residents through tough times.

I believe we need to take two steps: update how we fund the system and take advantage of every dollar available through the federal stimulus bill.

The tax structure that funds the system was established decades ago and does not keep up with wage and employment growth. Since 1984, employers have paid unemployment taxes on only the first $8,000 of an employee's wages. That's one of the lowest bases in the country. If it had been adjusted annually for inflation, the base would be $19,360.

And employers were granted billions of dollars in tax breaks that were justified during good economic times; more than half now receive significant reductions on individual tax rates. Many pay only 1.86 percent, which amounts to $148 a year per worker.

We must restructure the system to shore up this vital fund for future economic storms.

In the short term, we should look to put federal dollars in the pockets of unemployed Pennsylvanians. We can bring more money into our system with legislation that allows us to access an additional $273 million made available through the federal stimulus bill and offer another seven weeks of fully federally funded extended benefits.

To do this, we need to change our laws to modernize our unemployment system and ultimately ensure that more unemployed people are eligible to receive benefits.

There's no reason to pass up the extra federal money -- other states are taking it. Unemployment compensation in Pennsylvania provides an average of about $300 a week based on wages and does not consider family size.

If we do nothing now, residents and employers will face an estimated $2.8 billion in new combined state and federal taxes from 2011 to 2016 to repay the state's federal loans. We will be forced to borrow more from the federal government and dig ourselves a deeper hole -- or worse, jeopardize a program that serves as a badly needed safety net.