On February 24, far right Missouri closet case Jason Smith introduced a bill “to provide incentives for States to recover fraudulently paid Federal and State unemployment compensation,” basically to get unemployment payments back from people who used the pandemic to defraud the government. Smith had 25 co-sponsors, mostly run-of-the-mill conservatives. The last person Smith asked to sign on as an original co-sponsor was one of the fascists, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma. Hern then went and told his own crowd and the kopeks started signing on in a few days, the real nuts that no one asks top sign onto their bills, like Ronny Jackson (TX), Marjorie Traitor Greene (GA), Byron Donalds (FL) and the one every avoids at all costs, George Santos (NY).
Santos became what they call “an additional co-sponsor” on March 7th and yesterday (out of jail on a quarter million dollar bond) he was back in DC— after his ordeal in NY on Tuesday— to vote for it. It passed 230-200, with 10 right-wing and GOP-lite Democrats joining the GOP: Jared Golden (ME), Abigail Spanberger (VA), Marie Perez (WA), Wally Nickel (NC), Susie Lee (NV), Greg Landsman (OH), Dean Phillips (NM), Gabe Vasquez (NM), Hillary Scholten (MI) and Chrissy Houlahan (PA).
The irony here, of course, is that Santos has been indicted for doing the exact thing the bill is addressing, fraudulently taking $24,744 in unemployment funds. He lied and claimed he was unemployed because of the pandemic at a time he was working for a Florida ponzi scheme outfit and making 6 figures, the only big money job he ever held in his life.
Smith’s bill incentives the states to go after the cheats by allowing them to keep 25% of whatever they claw back from perps like Santos. During the debate on Wednesday, Jim McGovern (D-MA) said “I have to point out the ridiculous hypocrisy of what's going on. A sitting member of the House Republican conference was indicted in federal court this morning for unemployment fraud… I mean, is this a joke?” The White House explained why Biden will veto the bill if it ever gets to his desk:
Contrary to its stated purpose, this bill would strip state Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs of essential resources to fight fraud, combat identity theft, and recover overpayments, and would set back the goals of strengthening program integrity and combating systemic fraud. The bill would stop work on the modernization of antiquated UI systems in states across the country, undermining efforts to detect and deter fraud and improve identity verification and cybersecurity while ensuring timely, equitable, and accurate delivery of benefits to eligible workers.
Our Nation’s experience during the pandemic only underscores how critical a well-functioning UI system is to stabilizing our economy, protecting hardworking Americans who lose their jobs, and preventing taxpayer dollars from being lost to sophisticated criminal enterprises. The Administration has worked to safeguard UI programs, fight fraud, and protect against identity theft, including by aiding the Department of Labor’s Inspector General in its investigative work; providing surge funding to states to support application backlogs; issuing an FY 2024 Budget that includes a package of UI program integrity measures; and by proposing enforcement measures to increase the statute of limitations for major criminal attacks on UI systems. These measures are estimated to save the federal government about $2 billion.
H.R. 1163 would leave UI systems vulnerable to fraud and improper payments by eliminating vital resources provided by the American Rescue Plan Act for UI technology modernization, fraud prevention, and ensuring equitable access. Among the critical efforts this proposal would halt or undermine are identity verification pilots and related initiatives, technical assistance to states to reduce fraud, and efforts to modernize states’ technology and data systems to improve program integrity. The bill also would unfairly punish workers whose overpayments were the fault of a state agency.