On May 21, 2026, the US House Ways and Means Committee voted by a vote of 41 – 0 to report H.R. 8873, the Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act, for consideration by the House of Representatives. The summary of the bill provided by the committee HR-8873-One-Pager.pdf includes the primary provisions:
• Establishes a federal taskforce, led by a National Recovery Coordinator, to coordinate with applicable state agencies to identify federal pandemic UI payments issued on prepaid debit cards held by financial institutions or transferred to state agencies responsible for unclaimed property.
• Requires the task force to develop model processes that facilitate cost-effective recovery of payments and return them to the federal government.
• Includes due process protections and information for claimants found to have had their identity stolen connected to fraudulent payments.
• Requires the issuance of guidance to financial institutions that provides a legal pathway to return payments to the appropriate state agency.
• Mandates the creation of guidance to states agencies responsible for unclaimed property on the obligations of their agencies to review and return payments to the federal government.
• Extends the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions in pandemic unemployment programs from 5 to 10 years to provide law enforcement agencies more time to hold fraudsters accountable.
UWC supports this legislation to enable the recovery of funds to state unemployment trust funds to the benefit of the solvency of employers who finance the regular unemployment insurance system and the recovery of federal funds to federal programs enacted during the COVID emergency. We have been advised by the USDOL Office of Inspector General that this legislation will enable significant recovery of fraudulently claimed funds that would otherwise be lost due to the statute of limitations or lost from recovery due to escheatment to state unclaimed funds. The legislative text of the bill in the nature of the substitute considered by the committee is available on this link.
