Sec. 5. Recovering fraudulent COVID unemployment compensation benefit payments
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/bill/117/hr/3268/ih/section-5A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Section 2118(b)(3) of the CARES Act ( 15 U.S.C. 9034(b)(3) ) is amended to read as follows: to make grants to States or territories administering unemployment compensation programs described in subsection
(a)(including territories administering the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program under section 2102) for such purposes, including for— building State capacity to prevent and reduce unemployment fraud through— the procurement of technology capabilities and building of infrastructure to verify and validate identity and earnings of unemployment compensation claimants; the establishment of procedures to implement Federal guidance regarding prevention of overpayments and fraud detection and prevention; and improving the efficiency and integrity of claims administration or processing of claims backlogs due to the pandemic; and the development and implementation of State unemployment fraud recoupment plans, which shall include— an assessment of the amount and extent of fraudulently paid unemployment benefits in 2020 and 2021, as applicable; an explanation of the causes of fraudulent payments, including any weaknesses in the State’s internal control procedures; a description of State efforts to recover fraudulent unemployment payments; a description of State actions taken to reduce and prevent fraudulent payments; and the identification of additional resources or authority needed to facilitate recovery of fraudulently paid benefits; and targeted funding to support State efforts to claw back fraudulent payments, which may be done by an independent third party contracted by the State, through State prosecution of criminal unemployment fraud schemes in coordination with Federal law enforcement officials, as applicable. . Section 2118(a) of the CARES Act ( 15 U.S.C. 9034(a) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: Of the amount made available under this subsection, not less than $200,000,000 shall be used for grants to States or territories as described in subsection (b)(3) . Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, each State with an agreement under section 2102 of the CARES Act shall, as a condition of such agreement, submit to the Secretary of Labor and make publicly available a State unemployment fraud recoupment plan as described in section 2118(b)(3)(B) of such Act. Section 2118 of the CARES Act ( 15 U.S.C. 9034 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary of Labor, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a joint taskforce, to be known as the COVID Unemployment Fraud Taskforce , to combat fraud in unemployment compensation programs. The taskforce shall— coordinate and support State and Federal unemployment insurance fraud detection; identify fraud prevention tools and make them available to States at no cost or substantially reduced cost; take the lead with respect to violations of Federal law on prosecution of individuals suspected of unemployment fraud; facilitate information sharing regarding unemployment fraud, particularly with regard to international and multi-State organized crime rings; coordinate with State workforce agencies to develop State unemployment fraud recoupment plans as described in subsection (b)(3)(B); and coordinate with the Internal Revenue Service to assist taxpayers who were victims of unemployment fraud. Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the COVID Unemployment Fraud Taskforce shall make available on a public website, and shall update on a regular basis, a dashboard that shows the status of each State’s efforts to prevent fraud and recover fraudulently paid funds, including the amount of overpayments, prosecutions of unemployment fraud, and information provided by each State pursuant to (b)(3)(B). Of the amount made available under subsection (a), not less than $20,000,000 shall be used for the administration and operations of the COVID Unemployment Fraud Taskforce established under paragraph (1), including for hiring of personnel to identify and combat fraud schemes targeting State unemployment compensation systems. . The Department of Labor shall issue guidance to States that allows State workforce agencies to retain 5 percent of any amounts recovered in fraudulent or improperly paid State or Federal unemployment benefits made in 2020 or 2021 for use in administration of the State’s unemployment compensation program, including for hiring fraud investigators and for other program integrity purposes. Recovered amounts retained by a State and used for the purposes described in this subsection shall not be considered to violate the withdrawal requirements of section 303(a)(5) of the Social Security Act or section 3304(a)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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Sec. 5
Recovering fraudulent COVID unemployment compensation benefit payments
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