On February 8th, the US House Ways and Means Committee held a compelling hearing reviewing the dramatic increase in UI and temporary unemployment benefit programs enacted in response to COVID-19. The hearing, entitled “Hearing on the Greatest Theft of Tax Payer Dollars: Unchecked Unemployment Fraud” included testimony from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the USDOL Office of Inspector General (OIG), and the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.
Witnesses detailed the results of their reviews of fraud and crime and their recommendations to improve recovery and address fraud in the UI system.
The hearing and written testimony is available at https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/hearing-on-the-greatest-theft-of-taxpayer-dollars-unchecked-unemployment-fraud/
We expect this hearing to provide the starting point for development of UI legislation responding to these issues in the coming legislative term.
We also plan to address these issues in workshops during the National UI Issues Conference hosted by the National Foundation for Unemployment Compensation and Workers’ Compensation on June 28-30 in Memphis, Tennessee. See conference registration information at https://www.uwcstrategy.org/conferences/
Doug
