Taxes, Benefit Cuts, Federal Money Eyed for States’ Jobless Aid

State efforts to foot the bill for sky-high unemployment benefits paid out over the past year highlight a tension over who should bear that cost—employers, workers, or the U.S. government.

Ohio may reduce the length of worker benefits, Massachusetts is weighing billions in bonds, and Florida is looking at tapping new taxes for online sales. Other states want to funnel federal aid into depleted benefit coffers, and still more proposals abound.

But policymakers are facing pushback as they consider options to shore up depleted unemployment trust funds and repay federal loans. States have borrowed $54 billion from the U.S. Treasury ...