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Commissioner Levers briefs committee on unemployment insurance funding, eligibility and fraud controls
Summary
Employment Security Commissioner Richard Levers told the committee about program finances (FY budget ~$54 million, trust fund ~$386 million), eligibility rules, weekly benefits (max $427; average $372), and fraud-prevention measures; he outlined plans to use AI to assist adjudication and claimant communications.
Employment Security Commissioner Richard Levers provided an overview of the department's budget, benefit structure, and fraud controls during a committee briefing.
Levers said the department's annual budget is about $54 million, roughly half federal administrative grants and half from employer-source taxes; the unemployment trust fund balance was reported at about $386 million held at the U.S. Treasury. He summarized eligibility: claimants must meet monetary tests (minimum $2,800 in the base period, including at least $1,400 in two quarters), and qualifying separations must generally be through no fault of the worker. The maximum weekly benefit is $427 and the state average weekly benefit is $372; claimants may file for up to 26 weeks in a 52-week benefit year, with average duration around 12.4 weeks.
On fraud and improper-payment controls, Levers said improper-payment rates rose during the pandemic but have fallen toward roughly 10 percent; New Hampshire prioritized preventing identity-theft payments and runs a fraud investigative unit that uses cross-matching of employer wage reports. He described a multi-pronged approach to detection and said the department is piloting AI tools to assist adjudication and to present real-time, clarifying questions to filers (for example, prompting users if previously reported earnings appear inconsistent with a current filing). Levers warned that more advanced AI work requires additional modernization funding and noted a federal grant reduction had affected project scope.
Committee members asked about how benefit payments are delivered (direct deposit vs paper check), timing for weekly certification and one-stop office resources, the mechanics and lag of wage cross-matches and out-of-state wage reporting, and how fund solvency and borrowing (Title XII loans) work during downturns. Levers said the department is pursuing technology and process changes to improve efficiency and detection while cautioning that many external data sources and legal/privacy considerations constrain some approaches.
