[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},"mediaId",6348411,"mediaKeyId","2242317-250a5dd0df6441fd4fad84b4637c9a99","parentId",2242317,"title","Witnesses urge front‑end identity checks, sustained tech funding and trained merit staff to curb UI fraud","audioSeconds",1356,"startMs",1510000,"endMs",2866000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2242317-250a5dd0df6441fd4fad84b4637c9a99&start=1510&end=2866","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2242317-250a5dd0df6441fd4fad84b4637c9a99/thumbnail_1510000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6348411/Witnesses-urge-frontend-identity-checks-sustained-tech-funding-and-trained-merit-staff-to-curb-UI-fraud","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6348411-e8e090eff003c7b0001df2f1411e0803/orig.mp4?Expires=1771156740&Signature=F8P8KVwdFrgt82Y-563cL2PesnsOiTfjTJepbLlTfwHKgN-NtPY29gWK53cIfLKWL7tgOJLfHHkDbVXGhdUKzTweKcRlrv5Bkl2ckBxvHHoFO-SwrafI8Vx0dUNfapaPjeI6OdSpCKVI9IGJwZ3Esj-NJxsSdVG9~XMGdVoQBCqYFbzHt6q0c~f8tc1n6vfDv9DJzZi2wNZXsKFoy4ZLrg7q4A4q9a8aAc3uDlIOtUP1gwQXOObI-2XrjpsUiVBtcd42Du-tdtO3pKFWYerH0FGlLpH0iZuF7OEyP-n8TwYXnlNQUW9aZUSodZpWRDhL~1XPQiB1ifkjoebuwGKPCg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means","date","2025-02-06T20:59:19Z","article","Witnesses and members at a House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare hearing described concrete prevention measures they said would reduce future unemployment insurance fraud and improve responses during surges.

Haywood Talcove, chief executive of LexisNexis Special Services Inc., urged three core changes: apply identity verification at the front end, end self‑certification, and continuously authenticate beneficiaries. “We finally we must finally understand that pay and chase does not work,” Talcove testified, and he recommended private‑sector techniques — continuous authentication and data analytics — be applied to government payments.

State officials described investments and operational practices that, they said, reduced improper payments. Anna Hu, director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, told the committee that Missouri modernized its IT systems in 2016 and joined the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) Integrity Center and the Integrity Data Hub. Hu said those steps, with third‑party partners, helped Missouri limit improper payments and deliver reemployment services while protecting program integrity.

Private‑sector and state partnership examples were a focus. Jeffrey Ficki, who led Ohio’s public‑private response, described a short-term collaboration after major fraud and backlogs overwhelmed Ohio’s system. He testified that deploying a new fraud‑detection “stack” and advanced analytics cut new fraudulent claims from roughly 1,000,000 a month in early 2021 to under 25,000 a month — a reduction he described as “over 97%” — and helped adjudicate a backlog of unadjudicated claims within 90 days. Ficki credited coordinated data sharing with banks and payment networks, targeted analytics to identify suspect payments, and legal agreements to recover funds held by payment platforms.

Front‑line workers warned against outsourcing that can deprive systems of trained staff and institutional knowledge. Shelby Mayenberg, an employment‑services worker and member of the Washington Federation of State Employees Local 443, described working long shifts during the pandemic and the value of merit‑based hiring. She said initial training for permanent UI workers is typically six to eight weeks and that experience is essential to spotting fraud and helping legitimate claimants. “UI workers are the first line of defense protecting hard earned benefits from fraud,” Mayenberg told the subcommittee.

Witnesses and members also discussed funding. Hu said Missouri businesses contributed about $130 million in FUTA taxes in one year but that Missouri received roughly $38.5 million in UI administrative funding from the Department of Labor, a funding mismatch she said undermines long‑term modernization and cybersecurity investment.

Several members stressed that modernizing systems and dedicating consistent technology funding would reduce the need to “pay and chase” and increase collections and prosecutions. Panelists and members urged Congress to consider targeted, sustained funding streams for state UI modernization, clearer data‑sharing authorities between financial institutions and agencies, and protections for merit‑based state staff in the event of future surge responses.

Ending: Committee members indicated support for legislative steps that combine a near‑term extension of prosecutorial authority with longer‑term investments in state UI systems, identity verification and workforce training to prevent future large‑scale fraud.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Prosecuting Fraudsters for Stealing Billions in Unemployment Benefits from American Workers","oneSentenceSummary","At the same House Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing, private vendors, state labor officials and front-line UI workers advocated identity verification, funding for IT modernization and preservation of merit-based state staff as key defenses against pandemic-era schemes.","taxTitle","Ways and Means: House Committee, Standing Committees - House & Senate, Congressional Hearings Compilation, Legislative, Federal","taxId",1828,"location","","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},6348416,"House subcommittee urges extension of CARES-era statute of limitations to prosecute pandemic UI fraud",6473,754000,7227000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2242317-250a5dd0df6441fd4fad84b4637c9a99&start=754&end=7227","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2242317-250a5dd0df6441fd4fad84b4637c9a99/thumbnail_754000.jpg","/articles/6348416/House-subcommittee-urges-extension-of-CARES-era-statute-of-limitations-to-prosecute-pandemic-UI-fraud","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6348416-4b4cb2423c62148684c4faef5ee604c4/orig.mp4?Expires=1771156740&Signature=gupQ~feutiwk9IIz7vjj9OxWb6fvfIEzdyWo0mI3J9TjakqPJgLMEWrc1MHUHknkwkl-~8GG~2DOI9-lakwv1r0mPgh8Be7nbUACWtmzEM-o123o2XeEozNBVlTyOs5Mr7T1li8a~YWmqI9GtSLvhWWsv858zNC1ebqsObXhTsCUQH7Xu~cknaIrxJtDsbm20uwO~BO7Z23fosuYFVU0cTZWMv~0YGvYPH1ATDtO21JKI4J3iOsXO60nA9CfBPFrNTz-6uNa~m4D4xbJciz35IxXdhJiwfPmPm2u7eoQRF6oKbO4ns~tIloHMPj2fTpaS3AWlM2mJAEgJcZERjJJhA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare opened a hearing urging Congress to extend the statute of limitations for CARES Act–related unemployment insurance (UI) fraud to preserve ongoing criminal investigations and recoveries.

The hearing’s chair emphasized the looming deadline and said Congress “must act to extend the statute of limitations.” That deadline, members and witnesses warned, threatens to close the window on thousands of federal and state investigations now under way.

The subcommittee heard testimony that pandemic-era emergency benefits were a target for large-scale criminal rings and that prosecutors and auditors need more time to pursue complex cases. Haywood Talcove, chief executive officer of LexisNexis Special Services Inc., told the committee that criminal networks used stolen personally identifiable information and that the scale of fraud exceeded the capacity of existing recovery programs. “Pay and chase does not work,” Talcove said, urging Congress to extend the deadline and give law enforcement additional time to bring cases to court.

Committee members cited multiple official estimates of program loss during the pandemic. Members quoted figures from the Government Accountability Office, Department of Labor and other witnesses ranging from roughly $100 billion to $250 billion in UI-related improper payments, and kept a consistent focus on the March 27, 2025 expiration date for CARES Act–related felony prosecutions and civil actions unless Congress acts.

Ranking Member Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) opened with a bipartisan statement that Democrats want to hold fraudsters accountable but also criticized the recent firing of the Department of Labor inspector general, Larry Turner, who he said had led substantial pandemic-era UI prosecutions and recommended the statute extension to the committee. Davis told colleagues that the inspector general’s removal risked undermining enforcement capacity and the agency’s institutional knowledge.

Several members emphasized the number of ongoing federal matters. The chair cited Department of Justice figures supplied to the committee showing more than 1,600 open criminal matters related to COVID-era UI fraud and said DOJ had charged more than 600 criminal UI fraud matters with tens to hundreds of millions in associated losses. Rep. Rudy Yacom (R-Ind.) entered a Department of Justice email about uncharged matters into the record without objection.

Members also raised national-security concerns about foreign criminal groups exploiting the programs. Talcove and others described transnational rings — with activity traced to multiple nations in testimony — and said many ringleaders operate offshore, complicating prosecution.

There was also contentious discussion about recent executive-branch personnel actions and data access. Several Democrats pressed witnesses on the implications of recent removals of inspectors general and on reports that outside contractors or private individuals had been granted access to sensitive federal payment and tax data. Witnesses and members said those developments underscored the need for clear investigative authority and sufficient funding for federal watchdog offices.

The subcommittee concluded with the chair saying he would work with members in a bipartisan fashion to draft and move legislation that would extend the CARES Act–related statute of limitations before the March 27 deadline. Members were given two weeks to submit additional written questions for the record.

Ending: The subcommittee did not vote on legislation at the hearing. Members signaled they intend to pursue markup to extend the statute of limitations and requested written follow-up from witnesses and agencies to inform the drafting of any bill.","Witnesses and members told the House Ways and Means Work & Welfare subcommittee that criminal prosecutions and civil recoveries of pandemic-era unemployment insurance fraud hinge on extending a CARES Act–related statute of limitations that expires March 27, 2025.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Witnesses urge front‑end identity checks, sustained tech funding and trained merit staff to curb UI fraud

House subcommittee urges extension of CARES-era statute of limitations to prosecute pandemic UI fraud