Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that addresses fraud and overpayments of pandemic unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, including by providing incentives for states to investigate and recover overpayments of these benefits.

Highlights:

• Amends and addresses fraud and overpayments of pandemic unemployment insurance  (UI) benefits, including by providing incentives for states to investigate and recover overpayments of these benefits (Sec. 2-5).

• Authorizes states to retain 25% of any recovered fraudulent overpayments that may be used for (Sec. 2-5):

• Modernizing unemployment compensation systems and information technology;

• Reimbursing administrative costs;

• Hiring fraud investigators, and prosecutors; and

• For other program integrity activities.

• Authorizes states to additionally retain 5% of any overpayments of regular and extended UI benefits, but specifies that in order to retain these overpayments, states must certify that they have met certain conditions for data matching (Sec. 2-5).

• Extends the time during which states can recover overpayments of pandemic UI from 3 to 10 years (Sec. 2-5).

• Extends flexibilities for states to hire temporary staff on a noncompetive basis to identify pursue and recover fraudulent overpaymetns under federal pandemic unemployment compensation programs authorizes by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Sec. 2-5).

• Extends the statute of limitations for federal criminal charges or civil enforcement actions related to UI fraud (Sec. 2-5).

• Repeals a section of the CARES Act (as amended by the American Rescue Plan of 2021) that provided funding for UI program integrity activities (Sec. 2-5).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text