Representatives From Illinois Unemployment Agency Discuss Fraud With Lawmakers – WRUL-FM wrul.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wrul.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(The Center Square) – The Illinois Senate Appropriations Committee questioned representatives from the Illinois Department of Employment Services over fraudulent benefits during the pandemic. According to a state audit .
Normal, IL, USA / www.cities929.com
Mar 16, 2021 4:08 PM
(The Center Square) â The Illinois Department of Employment Security wants more spending authority for offices that havenât been open to the public for nearly a year.
The agency is also preparing to send out overpayment waiver requests.
IDES Acting Director Kristin Richards on Tuesday requested a $450.4 million budget that includes a $133.9 million increase in federal spending over the previous fiscal year. She told a Senate committee that will help with the continued workload during the pandemic.
Illinois experienced massive unemployment in the weeks after Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered the stateâs bars and restaurants to close and then subsequent state-at-home order a year ago. Those orders also closed unemployment offices around the state, which have been closed to the public ever since, increasing the call volume to IDES exponentially.
More Hearings on Unemployment Fraud Expected altondailynews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from altondailynews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
by Greg Bishop, The Center Square | March 08, 2021 08:30 AM Print this article
While state officials say employers won’t have to cover unemployment benefits paid to fraudsters, taxpayers will still be on the hook for unrecovered funds.
More hearings are expected to further delve into the myriad problems at the Illinois Department of Employment Security. A hearing Thursday touched the surface.
As of December, IDES said it’s paid out $19 billion to cover the costs of unemployment since government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions forced businesses to close, reduce hours or limit customers. The department said it’s stopped 1.5 million fraudulent claims to date, but didn’t put a value on how much money in fraudulent claims has been paid out.