On March 11, 2025, the US House of Representatives passed the Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act (HR 1156) with a bi-partisan vote of 295-127. The bill extends authority for criminal prosecution and recovery of fraudulently claimed unemployment compensation paid under the CARES Act. See Rules Committee Text at BILLS-119hr1156rh.pdf UWC supports enactment of this legislation and submitted [...]
On February 19, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order asking federal agencies to review regulations and report back to the White House with reforms needed to be consistent with law and Trump administration policy. The EO is available at Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Regulatory Initiative – The White [...]
Don’t miss the deadline to submit your nomination of individuals to be recognized for their contributions to Unemployment Insurance policy and administration. Nominations are Open to March 15, 2025! Each year we accept nominations for awards to individuals who have had a profound impact on the Unemployment Insurance system as researchers, policy leaders and contributors [...]
UWC is sending a letter to House Speaker Johnson, Ways and Means Committee Chair Smith and Rules Committee Chairwoman Foxx, in support of HR 1156, the Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act. This bill would extend the period during which criminal prosecutions may be filed and pandemic unemployment compensation may be recovered for an additional five [...]
The potential increase in net FUTA taxes due to the Benefit Cost Rate offset credit reduction for employers in Connecticut, New York and California is shown in the attached posting from the US Department of Law. Because these states had outstanding loans as of January 1st of 2024 and 2025 and have not repaid the [...]
In addition to assistance that may otherwise be available directly through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, State unemployment insurance, labor and workforce agencies administer disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) for individuals who have become unemployed due to a disaster emergency declaration by the President. DUA applications may be available for individuals through state agencies to provide support [...]
Recent proposals in some states and the current strike announced by the International Longshore Workers once again raises the question as to whether striking workers who are not available for work may be paid unemployment compensation. Federal law is clear that individuals who are not available for work during a week in which they are otherwise [...]
On July 10, 2024, the Chair and ranking member of the US Senate Committee on Finance, Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Crapo (R-ID), introduced bi-partisan legislation, the Unemployment Insurance Integrity and Accessibility Act. The committee press release with links to the section-by-section summary and legislative language is shown below. The bill extends the period during which civil [...]
On May 23rd Representatives Steel and Tenney Introduced legislation to provide relief from Federal Unemployment Tax triggered increases on employers with employment in states with outstanding federal unemployment insurance loans. California and New York are two states in which the Federal Unemployment Tax net rate will increase again for 2024 (along with the Virgin Islands). Employers [...]
On March 26, 2024,the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its improper payment report with an estimate of $44 billion in improper payments in the Unemployment Insurance program for 2023. The US Department of Labor reported a combined improper and unknown payment rate of 22.2 percent for the Unemployment Insurance program in fiscal year 2022, which exceeded [...]
