RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Justice Center says a proposal to reduce future benefits to boost the state's unemployment insurance trust fund doesn't solve the problem.

The center will hold a news conference about the issue Thursday at the Legislative Building in Raleigh. The N.C. Chamber has proposed cutting future unemployment benefits to help reduce the trust fund shortfall.

Center officials say they agree the shortfall hurts employers and the community as a whole. But they say the proposal to cut unemployment benefits will hurt families even more as they suffer through a bad economy.

The chamber wants legislators to cut the maximum unemployment benefit from about $506 a week to $350 weekly. The chamber also wants to cut the period of state-provided benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks.