Lawmakers press LEO director over pandemic-era UIA overpayments, Deloitte audit and deactivated fraud detection

Director Susan Corbin of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity testified to the House Committee on Oversight about department programs and the unemployment insurance agency’s modernization efforts, but lawmakers pressed her for answers about pandemic-era failures at UIA.

Representative Lisa Wolford, lead questioner at the hearing, said state audit work and outside reviews found “billions in waivers” and alleged that an internally created UIA application did not meet federal requirements during the pandemic. Wolford urged the committee to know who ordered that application and said she wanted the department to provide documentation: “Who ordered the creation of this unemployment assistance application that did not meet federal regulations?” she asked. Corbin said she could not answer immediately and would review the auditor general’s report and follow up with the committee.

Wolford also raised the department’s use of an outside consultant, saying the state paid Deloitte for an audit and later awarded Deloitte a contract to modernize UIA’s website and systems. She framed the sequence as problematic and asked whether private audits had limited the Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) ability to do a full review. Corbin replied that LEO followed state procurement rules, that Deloitte had experience building similar platforms and that the procurement and the audit were separate processes. She said the department underwent a “robust joint evaluation committee process” in awarding the contract and does not plan additional spending on that contract at this time.

On fraud detection, Wolford said the OAG’s work and other reviews showed the UIA deactivated a fraud detection tool known as “fraud manager” before receiving roughly $40 billion in federal pandemic unemployment funds, and pressed Corbin to say who made that decision. Corbin said she would look back at the report and provide additional information to the oversight committee.

Corbin also outlined current UIA performance metrics and modernization steps: a chatbot on michigan.gov/uia, a phased rollout of a new myUIA platform (employers first; employee-facing tools later this summer), increased weekly benefit rates implemented in January, and ongoing efforts to reduce improper payments. She cited several performance statistics—an 89% first-time payment promptness metric in 2025 relative to an 87% federal goal, a 73% reemployment rate against a 70% standard and an average claimant duration near 12.6 weeks—but said she would follow up with more detailed answers when committee members requested specifics (for example, average resolution time for disputed claims).

Other lawmakers echoed concerns about accountability and transparency. Representative Brock noted that UIA now has roughly 670 employees and asked why only a small number of staff had been released despite large estimates of erroneous pandemic payments. Corbin declined to comment on individual personnel actions and reiterated the department’s commitment to work with the auditor general and to strengthen leadership at UIA.

Corbin said LEO is cooperating with federal guidance and the OAG and emphasized the department’s priority to make the unemployment system fair and fraud‑free as modernization continues. She repeatedly told the committee she would review audits and documents and return with specific information about who ordered the disputed application, details about the fraud-manager deactivation, and procurement files related to Deloitte’s work.

The committee did not take formal votes on the matters discussed; several members requested follow-up materials and documents from LEO.