Pandemic Emptied Unemployment Trust, Left Fraud Unchecked -
By Morgan Lee Associated Press
New Mexico probably overpaid unemployment insurance benefits by an estimated $250 million during the coronavirus pandemic amid a backlog of investigations into potentially fraudulent claims, the budget and accountability office of the Legislature announced Wednesday in a research report.
Analysts briefed members of the Legislature s lead budget writing committee on the trajectory of record-setting unemployment claims during pandemic.
New Mexico has paid out more than $3 billion in unemployment claims through the state s Workforce Solutions Department since the local outset of the pandemic in March 2020. That put the state unemployment trust fund into insolvency and in debt to the federal government.