About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1 1 (May 11, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelow0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 







              Congressional                                                    ____
          ~   Research Service






Unemployment Insurance Overpayment and

Fraud Recovery and H.R. 1163



Updated May 11, 2023

The federal-state Unemployment Insurance (UI) system has faced long-standing program integrity
challenges. The temporary, augmented, and expanded UI benefits created by Congress in response to the
COVID-19  pandemic exacerbated program integrity concerns related to overpayments and fraud. For an
overview of these UI program integrity issues, see CRS In Focus IF 12243, Unemployment Insurance
Program Integrity: Recent Developments.
Recently, there has been heightened congressional attention to UI overpayments, including the scope of
fraudulent overpayments and policy proposals to prevent and recover UI overpayments and fraud. For
example, on February 28, 2023, the House Committee on Ways and Means ordered to be reported an
amendment  in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1163, the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of
Unemployment  Fraud Act. On May 9, the House Committee on Rules met to consider H.R. 1163 and
adopted an amendment, as recommended by the House Committee on Ways and Means.

State  Procedures to Recover Regular UI Overpayments

Although there are broad requirements under federal law regarding UI benefits and financing, the
specifics are set out under each state's laws. All state UI laws provide for the recovery of Unemployment
Compensation (UC) and Extended Benefit (EB) overpayments. Federal law requires that states recover
non-fraud and fraud overpayments by offsetting future payments of UC and EB. States may also offset
overpayments with state tax refunds or lottery winnings. States can compel repayment by pursuing civil
action in state court. In some states, UI laws also authorize denial or suspension of the professional
licenses of individuals who owe an overpayment of UI benefits. Under federal law, states must recover
overpayments due to fraud and overpayments due to misreported work from an individual's federal
income tax refund through the Treasury Offset Program. Some states also assess interest on outstanding
overpayment balances in cases of both fraud and non-fraud. In some situations, states apply fines and civil
penalties when fraud is involved. States also have criteria for when overpayments are written off or
cancelled (e.g., death, age of overpayment).




                                                              Congressional Research Service
                                                                https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                   IN12127

CRS INSIGHT
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most