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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 15, 2023 11:10 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative John A. Lawrence |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | COSPONSOR MEMO – Let’s Get Serious About $6 Billion in Unemployment Compensation Fraud |
| SUMMARY A recent report from the Office of Inspector General identified $6 billion+ in fraudulent unemployment compensation payments from March 2020 through September 2022. The same report suggests that a pilot program to get serious about investigating this fraud would cost $1.5 million. This proposal will enact the recommendations of the OIG’s report so we can get serious about uncovering, investigating, and prosecuting unemployment compensation fraud. The Office of Inspector General’s report can be viewed at this link: https://www.osig.pa.gov/Reports/Documents/OSIG-LI%20Act%20141%20UC%20Report.pdf DETAILS Colleagues – Last year, press reports suggested Pennsylvania may have paid out billions of fraudulent Unemployment Compensation claims. Testimony from former Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier suggested that there was a very, very serious issue with fraud that needed additional attention. With this in mind, I sponsored legislation that eventually became Act 141 of 2022 which asked the Office of Inspector General to investigate the extent of UC fraud and propose some solutions. This report was finalized and released a few weeks ago, and can be viewed at the above link. The report deserves your attention. It outlines a shocking $6 billion+ in estimated UC fraud across all programs over the last two years. This figure includes both state and federal programs administered by the state. This number is an estimate - the actual number (which can only be truly determined by investigating each case) could be even higher. Much of the fraud on the federal level must be investigated at the federal level. Investigations on state-level fraud are handled by the state, and we must do a better job. This proposal will follow the recommendations contained in the report, establishing a two-year pilot program at the Office of Inspector General, hiring 12 new staff to investigate UC fraud, and updating OIG’s authority to include UC fraud investigations. I would appreciate your support of this initiative to get serious about Unemployment Compensation fraud in this Commonwealth. |
Memo Updated: May 15, 2023 11:11 AM