The Michigan Court of Claims has entered an order certifying the $20 million class-action settlement against the Unemployment Insurance Agency.
The settlement resolves a class-action lawsuit against the agency claimed in 2013 it falsely accused unemployment recipients of fraud and seized private property without due process.
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Part of the many woes plaguing Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency since before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic may be resolved but may cost state taxpayers $20 million.
The Michigan attorney general’s office announced Thursday the state has reached a tentative $20 million settlement to resolve a class-action suit against the UIA that claimed the agency falsely accused unemployment recipients of fraud and seized private property without due process.
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A Michigan Court of Claims judge ruled that the state Unemployment Insurance Agency can’t collect on claimants appealing a determination they were overpaid.
Court of Claims Judge Brock Swartzle ruled that his prior preliminary injunction stops UIA collection on all individuals who “timely” appeal UIA claims until they are resolved.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill appropriating nearly $140 million to revamp Michigan’s embattled Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA.)
“This fiscally-responsible, bipartisan bill will lower costs for small businesses and fight waste, fraud, and abuse in our unemployment system,” Whitmer said in a statement. “This is the latest step we are taking to fight fraud, hold people accountable, and strengthen the Unemployment Insurance Agency after decades of disinvestment. By making a deposit into the Unemployment Compensation Fund, we can help small businesses balance their books by lowering the costs of unemployment.”
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A bill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she will sign into law aims to spend $140 million to improve the embattled Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA).
When Michigan’s unemployment rate spiked to 22.7% in April 2020 after COVID-19 and an economic shutdown, the UIA often failed to provide timely benefits to eligible Michiganders.
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The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) failed to screen 5,508 workers before giving them access to software that disbursed $39 billion of taxpayer money since March 2020.
An audit released Friday from the Office of Auditor (OAG) General Doug Ringler marked four “material conditions” – the most severe rating – asserting the UIA failed to take multiple safeguards to prevent employees from looting taxpayer money.
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Michigan State Senator Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) on Thursday introduced legislation to cut the state’s income tax rates.
The measure, Senate Bill 768, would reduce the personal and corporate income tax rates to 3.9% from 4.25% and 6%, respectively.
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Michigan’s Office of the Auditor General on Thursday released a report on the shortcomings of the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA).
During the coronavirus pandemic, the state agency dished out $3.9 billion in overpayments of federal dollars to residents who did not qualify for the funds.
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Emails show that in May 2020, the federal government warned Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance (UIA) about its lax jobless aid qualification questions. Despite a second warning as early as Jan. 6, 2021, the UIA still didn’t fix its mistakes.
The unheeded warnings are now costing nearly 600,000 Michiganders stress as well as potentially thousands of dollars to repay Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits erroneously paid out.
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For the second time since last March, acting Unemployment Insurance Agency chair Liza Estlund Olson testified Thursday morning before the Michigan House Oversight Committee.
Much like her March appearance, Thursday’s testimony prompted scathing commentary from Republican committee members.
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Michigan House Speaker Jason Wentworth (R-Clare) urged Governor Gretchen Whitmer to fire Acting Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) Director Liza Olson.
In the statement, Wentworth highlighted several errors and examples of poor management throughout the state agency.
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The leaders of the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) knew as early as Jan. 6 they erred in developing qualifications for benefits, but didn’t tell the 700,000 Michiganders affected for nearly six months.
The Detroit News first broke the story.
After Jan. 6, the UIA tried to retroactively charge some benefit recipients up to $27,000 for the state’s mistake, instead of admitting it erred.
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The Michigan House of Representatives Oversight Committee continued to debate last week whether the committee should grant itself authority to issue subpoenas in specific instances, but postponed a vote until next week’s scheduled meeting.
At its meeting Thursday morning, the committee addressed how broad subpoena authority could be applied to compel testimony from government personnel and agencies. Specifically, the committee resumed its discussion of House Resolution 60, which would authorize the committee to subpoena former Michigan Department and Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon.
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The State of Michigan is investigating whether new employees of the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) are stealing funds from jobless residents, multiple media outlets report.
The workers are accused of stealing and charging clients to receive their benefits more quickly, WDIV reported. This is happening even as Michigan is among several states experiencing fraudulent claims being submitted, and they temporarily stopped payments.
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