The Michigan House of Representatives has approved Rep. Fink’s plan to overhaul operations within the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) after it paid out billions of dollars to fraudulent applicants and failed an independent performance audit.

Fink said the state’s unemployment agency was ill-equipped to handle the number of claims that poured in after the governor’s shutdown of businesses in 2020 that resulted in the largest spike in unemployment in Michigan’s history.

“When the people needed unemployment insurance most, the agency demonstrated it was incapable of delivering as a result of continued internal errors, lacking transparency and poor leadership,” Fink said. “It’s clear neither the agency nor the governor’s administration can be trusted to solve these issues and legislative reforms are needed.”

            The plan approved today will deliver:

• Accountability for the people: To address continued customer service concerns, the plan creates a new independent unemployment insurance advocate to serve as a point-of-contact for families who need help getting the jobless benefits they deserve. The UIA would be required to submit a report to the citizens’ advocate outlining the number of cases appealed by the agency and sent to the internal Board of Appeals Commission, as well as the length of time cases have sat before the commission before a final resolution is reached.

• New provisions to protect workers: Limiting the time during which the Unemployment Insurance Agency can claw back funds paid in error will give jobless claimants and job providers more certainty moving forward.

• More communication within state government: The proposal requires UIA to provide accurate and timely data regarding the status of the agency’s trust fund that is used to pay out benefits. The fund was heavily depleted as millions sought benefits over the last 18 months – causing concerns that money would not be available for benefits and that businesses, which are charged with paying into the fund, would see a contribution increase. The reporting would improve communication between a vital administrative arm and representatives of the people.

All three bills passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support and now move to the Senate for further consideration.

Rep. Fink also supported another measure today that ensures hundreds of thousands of recipients of an emergency federal unemployment program are not forced to repay money due to a government error.

The plan would protect recipients of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program who were approved under one of four criteria included on the application by the state UIA, but were deemed invalid by the federal government.

“Hard-working people applied for unemployment insurance to support their families during uncertain times brought on by the governor’s economic shutdown,” Fink said. “Now, her administration wants to take back those dollars they issued in error. Michigan families shouldn’t have to pay for their mistake.”

The legislation Fink helped approve today would waive repayment for improperly paid PUA benefits that were approved by the state solely under the four invalid reasons.

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