(The Center Square) – Legislation to help recover taxpayer money lost to COVID-19 unemployment fraud passed the U.S. House Tuesday night and now heads to the Senate floor.
Under the Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., the U.S. Department of Justice would have five more years to track down and criminally prosecute those who committed CARES Act related unemployment insurance (UI) fraud during the pandemic.
According to the DOJ, there are still 157,000 open unemployment insurance fraud complaints and 1,648 open investigations.
The current statute of limitations expires on March 27, meaning if the Senate does not pass the bill in sixteen days, thousands of Americans will be left unreimbursed for stolen benefits, and potentially hundreds of fraudsters will get away with their crimes.
“This is a must-pass bill,” Smith said to Senators Wednesday, adding that if the Senate doesn’t act, “the criminals who stole money from the pockets of taxpayers – and continue to do so to this day will get away…a no vote is a vote to allow these criminals to keep what they stole.”
While the Government Accountability Office estimates that upwards of $100 billion in unemployment benefits were lost to fraud during the pandemic, only $5 billion have been recovered.
Currently, more than 2,000 individuals have been charged with, and over 1,400 convicted of, unemployment insurance fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
“We know that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans benefited from unemployment insurance,” cosponsor of the bill Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., said on the House floor. “But fraudsters took advantage of an overwhelmed system…this should be an easy yes for everyone in this chamber.”
The bill has 25 cosponsors, all Republican, and is part of the GOP’s efforts to address waste, fraud, and abuse connected to the federal government. Eighty-three Democrats joined all Republicans on the House floor voting in favor of the bill on the House floor.
