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November 20, 2023

The Next Time States Are “Swimming in Money” Make Them Repay Their Federal Loans

The pandemic was full of firsts, including the first time states received hundreds of billions of federal dollars they could use to shore up their depleted state unemployment insurance (UI) programs. The…

September 29, 2023

Solutions to Reduce Government Improper Payments Involving Unemployment Benefits

Overview The coronavirus pandemic tested the nation’s unemployment benefits system more than any prior recession. Not only did far more individuals file claims for weekly benefits than ever before, but…

September 23, 2023

Did Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Increase Unemployment? Evidence from Early State-level Expirations

Abstract During the 2021 pandemic year, the generosity of Unemployment Insurance benefits was expanded (Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation [FPUC]) and eligibility for benefits was broadened (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance [PUA]). These…

September 5, 2023

Audit Finds California Continues to Mismanage Unemployment Benefits

A scathing report released by the California State Auditor on August 24 finds that the state’s Economic Development Department (EDD) continues to mismanage the unemployment insurance (UI) program, resulting in “a substantial…

September 1, 2023

Despite Staggering Improper Payments, New Labor Department Report Calls for Reviving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

As America prepares to celebrate Labor Day, it’s timely to wonder what the US Department of Labor (DOL) has been up to. One noteworthy recent action was DOL’s August 21…

August 23, 2023

Labor Department Report Finds Pandemic Unemployment Program Had a Staggering 36 Percent Improper Payment Rate

On August 21, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released its long-awaited “improper payment report” on the troubled Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. PUA was an unprecedented federal unemployment benefit program that…

August 14, 2023

Tracking Plans to Make Pandemic Benefit Expansions Permanent

In 2008, former White House Chief of Staff and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously said what has come to be known as Rahm’s rule: “You never want a serious crisis to go to…

May 11, 2023

The House Acts to Recover More Pandemic Unemployment Fraud

FacebookTwitterLinkedIn This week, the House is considering Republican-authored legislation (H.R. 1163, the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act) designed to promote more recovery of fraudulent unemployment checks paid during the pandemic,…

May 2, 2023

In Next Recession, Don’t Let Uncle Sam Be Uncle Sucker Again

Following recent bank failures, expectations for a recession have revived. If unemployment rises significantly, Congress will likely re-open its stimulus policy playbook — including by extending unemployment benefits. Yet given an increased…

December 9, 2022

“Automatic Stimulus”: How It Would Have Increased the Record Unemployment Benefits Paid During the Great Recession and Pandemic

Key Points During the pandemic, a series of temporary federal programs that operated from March 2020 until September 2021 provided record unemployment benefit expansions. While those temporary programs followed the…