Advocacy News – Jan. 10, 2024
What happened: A new report by the Office of The Auditor General (OAG) has exposed the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency’s (UIA) failure to investigate and address fraud and improper payments during — and after — the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OAG’s fifth and final audit of the UIA, which came in response to a 2020 request by legislative leaders, found the UIA undercalculated unemployment fraud penalties by close to 50% and could assess an additional $840 million. The report found that the UIA failed to report some fraud cases over $10,000 to law enforcement and continued to pay at least $1.7 million to claimants even after determining they were incarcerated or deceased.
Why it matters: Michigan’s unemployment insurance (UI) system is 100% employer funded through state and federal payroll taxes. The audit findings underscore a distressing reality: a broken system plagued by persistent problems and in desperate need of reform. The Michigan Chamber will continue to advocate for state dollars to be deposited into the Unemployment Trust Fund to account for the UIA’s mismanagement of taxpayer resource and for increased transparency, oversight and customer service, including House Bills 4369-74.