Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) led fellow Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Representatives Dina Titus (D-Nev.-01), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.-04) and Susie Lee (D-Nev.-03) in a letter to Secretary Scalia asking the Department of Labor (DOL) to acknowledge and take action to assist states in combatting coordinated and intentional organized unemployment insurance fraud, which is spreading thin state resources that could otherwise be used to more quickly process unemployment claims.
“States alone do not have the bandwidth to process both a historic and unprecedented demand for benefits while simultaneously combating coordinated and organized crime designed to exploit and undermine the stability of the unemployment administration systems,” said the delegation members. “We need the Department of Labor to assist state agencies to ensure the integrity and stability of the system and that those Americans in dire need for relief are able to get the aid they so desperately need as efficiently and quickly as possible.”
BACKGROUND:
On March 27, 2020 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized the expansion of unemployment benefits and various federal relief programs to provide a lifeline to workers in need across the country. The programs are set to expire soon and people are still urgently waiting to receive their benefits more than three months later.
In Nevada, the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR) reported over 100,000 applications currently flagged for fraud, and recognizes these events are organized and coordinated attacks. These cases of fraud are creating substantial barriers for state officials to efficiently review, adjudicate or respond to claimants, which has caused significant delays to distributing essential aid.
The copy of the full letter can be found HERE.