Indianas Fight Against Unemployment Insurance Fraud Held Up Claims
At the press conference Commissioner Payne and the agencys Workforce Solutions Officer Regina Ashley addressed the claimants receiving letters about money owed for overpayment on unemployment benefits. Some workers have received letters saying that they owed the state excess money received from unemployment insurance in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Its too early to say whether pulling these benefits has had the intended effect of helping employers address staffing shortages.But nine workers we spoke with who recently lost the extra $300 a week described a challenging re-entry into the workforce.
PBS NewsHour
Some of those overpayments were due to fraudulent claims, the state has paid out $8 million in fraudulent benefits, an amount expected to rise. Commissioner Payne said that even he and his wife had been victims of fraudulent claims.
The state has been making an effort to stop unemployment claims fraud with anti-fraud measures which so far have prevented $236 million in fraudulent payments. However, those same systems have caused some unemployment claims to be held up.
In the event that the overpayment was caused by a small mistake made unwillingly and it can be proven that there was no attempt at fraud those individuals will not be penalized. Those individuals can appeal or request a waiver to stop efforts by the agency to reclaim the money.
S To Getting Lwa Payments With An Eservices Account
Answer the eligibility question If you have an eServices account, you will get an email from eServices saying that you need to answer an eligibility question. Select the link to answer one question to certify if you were unemployed or working fewer hours due to COVID-19.We will notify you in your eServices account to say whether you have been approved for Lost Wages Assistance. We will notify you by mail if you do not have an eServices account.If you are receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance , you dont need to answer the eligibility question because you already have. In that case, you wont receive a notice in eServices. We will automatically pay you the extra $300 for the weeks you are eligible.
- If you are eligible, the LWA payment will first be added to the Weekly benefit amount column and later to the Benefits paid column.
- If you are not eligible, the LWA payment might be added to the Weekly benefit amount column and then subtracted again.
What If I Earn Wages And I’m A Contractor
Some workers with mixed earnings from wage and independent contractor work would receive an additional federal benefit of $100 a week through Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation, or MEUC.
Many independent contractors and self-employed workers may have been receiving smaller unemployment checks, experts say, since their payments were based on wages from their W-2 tax forms that didn’t include their self-employment income, which could be higher.
The bonus would be on top of the $300-per-week supplement and would last until mid-March.
States have to opt in to this program. New York, Florida, Minnesota and Illinois have signaled they plan to provide the aid, according to CNBC.
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Some States Dropping Out Of Fpuc
For you to receive FPUC funds, your state or territory had to sign up. According to the DOL, as of April 29, 2020, all 50 states and the District of Columbia were signed up and paying FPUC benefits.
Recently, however, some states, have announced plans to stop providing temporary federal unemployment benefits, including FPUC program funds. These statesâwhich according to Forbes, include North Dakota, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Montanaâsay extra and extended unemployment benefits discourage unemployed workers from returning to the workforce. Observers expect additional states to discontinue extended or expanded benefits.
Some states are reinstating requirements that out-of-work benefits recipients prove they are looking for work, a stipulation most states dropped after the pandemic hit in 2020. Some states and businesses are offering sign-up bonuses to encourage workers to apply for available jobs.
Meanwhile, DOL Secretary, Marty Walsh told the Washington Post that the department had “not seen evidence that enhanced unemployment benefits are keeping people out of the labor force.”
A working research paper by Professor Arindrajit Dube of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, suggests that low unemployment insurance benefits do not increase employment levels more than happens in states with high levels of unemployment insurance benefits.
Stimulus Latest: Judge Orders State Of Oklahoma To Keep Paying $300 Unemployment Benefits That Stopped This Summer
- 17:04 ET, Aug 9 2021
A JUDGE has ordered the state of Oklahoma to resume paying federal expanded pandemic unemployment benefits that its GOP governor discontinued in late June.
District Judge Anthony Bonner granted a preliminary injunction on Friday prohibiting Oklahoma from withdrawing from the program until he issues a final order in the case, or until the program expires in September.
Oklahoma shall notify the U.S. Department of Labor immediately to reinstate and administer the federal unemployment benefit programs, Bonner wrote.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, discontinued the coronavirus-related benefits in June, arguing, along with a cohort of other GOP-led states, that the $300 supplemental payments were discouraging residents from returning to the workforce.
Democrats and economists fiercely pushed back against such claims, with even President Joe Biden insisting such remarks underestimated the will of the American people.
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How To Track Your Refund And Check Your Tax Transcript
The first way to get clues about your refund is to try the IRS online tracker applications: The Where’s My Refund tool can be accessed here. If you filed an amended return, you can check the Amended Return Status tool.
If those tools don’t provide information on the status of your unemployment tax refund, another way to see if the IRS processed your refund is by viewing your tax records online. You can also request a copy of your transcript by mail or through the IRS’ automated phone service by calling 1-800-908-9946.
Here’s how to check your tax transcript online:
1. Visit IRS.gov and log in to your account. If you haven’t opened an account with the IRS, this will take some time as you’ll have to take multiple steps to confirm your identity.
2. Once logged in to your account, you’ll see the Account Home page. Click View Tax Records.
3. On the next page, click the Get Transcript button.
4. Here you’ll see a drop-down menu asking the reason you need a transcript. Select Federal Tax and leave the Customer File Number field empty. Click the Go button.
5. The following page will show a Return Transcript, Records of Account Transcript, Account Transcript and Wage & IncomeTranscript for the last four years. You’ll want the 2020 Account Transcript.
6. This will open a PDF of your transcript: Focus on the Transactions section. What you’re looking for is an entry listed as Refund issued, and it should have a date in late May or June.
Ui Back Payments With End Of Extended Unemployment Programs
With the expiry of federal enhanced unemployment benefit programs like PUA, PEUC, $300 FPUC and $100 MEUC after September 6th 2021 in all states, there have been a lot of questions around what happens with ongoing, new and past payments.
Ongoing and new weekly payments will end after September 6th . This means a cessation of federal pandemic unemployment benefits for 8 million+ jobless or under-employed claimants which that will result in them losing all current and future benefits under the PUA, PEUC or supplementary $300 FPUC programs.
States like New Jersey and California, have already stated that validated claims after a successful determination or appeal for eligible weeks would be paid out over the next several weeks. Note, per the sections below, that back payments are limited to the program extension coverage periods.
Eligible Claimants should continue to certify for benefits for weeks they are owed unemployment. Any weeks of unemployment that occurred before these programs expire can still be paid retroactively if a claimant is later determined to be eligible for those weeks of benefits. Check your state unemployment website for more details on certifying for retroactive back payments.
Handling of Retroactive Unemployment Benefits
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Move Faces Legal Challenge
Oklahoma is one of 25 states that ended federal supplements to unemployment payouts. In Indiana, where workers sued Gov. Eric Holcomb for the move, a state court ruled that Holcombs decision was in violation of Indiana law and said it caused irreparable harm to Hoosiers by taking away their ability to pay for necessities such as rent, utilities, groceries and basic medical care.
Indiana appealed and requested that a new judge hear the case the state argues that reinstatement of the benefits will prolong the economic recovery and harm people more in the long run.
Now, unemployed Oklahomans face the same fate folks in Indiana are fighting to avoid lawsuit and all.
On July 7, Tulsa County resident Ronda Kay Owens petitioned for a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against Zumwalt in her official capacity as the executive director of the OESC. In the petition, Owens attorney, Chadwick Smith, argues her position on three grounds:
The OESC is an independent state agency created by the Legislature. Nowhere in the Oklahoma Employment Security Act is the governor granted policy, administrative, or enforcement authority over the commission or Zumwalt.
The commission exists to provide unemployment benefits to Oklahomans who qualify, and help them find jobs, not to work as a vehicle to enforce political policy aimed at economic recovery or build a business-friendly environment in the state.
The case will be heard July 20 by District Court Judge William J. Musseman.
Are The $300 Bonus Checks Retroactive
Though the language of the stimulus bill doesn’t specify whether the unemployment bonus is retroactive, that doesn’t appear to be the case, The Washington Post reported. Observers don’t expect that we’ll see a federally instituted lump sum payment to make up for previous weeks of not receiving a $300 check.
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S To Getting Lwa Payments Without An Eservices Account
If you applied for unemployment benefits and submit your weekly claims by phone instead of online, the three steps are the same, but we will communicate with you differently.
President Trump Signed A $900 Billion Coronavirus Relief Bill On Sunday Night
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Help is on the way for people worriedly watching their unemployment benefits dwindle but now the question is precisely when that next wave of money hits bank accounts.
Two days after President Trump put aside his misgivings to sign a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill that he days earlier called a disgrace, unemployment-benefit experts are trying to nail down new questions that are technical in nature, but critical for millions.
These are things like how federal and state labor agencies interpret bill language on effective dates and how quickly state agencies can resume jobless benefits and also layer on a supplemental $300 weekly payout.
As of Dec. 26, an estimated 12 million workers either received their last unemployment check or saw their benefits drop to $0 because of deadlines on benefits written into the CARES Act. The freshly enacted bill pushes eligibility for jobless benefits to mid-March.
If you are an unemployed worker, of course you can breathe some sigh of relief, said Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director of the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality. But with Trumps delay, he has introduced substantial uncertainty for people who are struggling to make ends meet on a day-to-day basis.
Heres a look at some of the open questions on whats next for workers:
How easy is it to keep the extra benefits coming?
When is the money coming?
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Indiana Workers Had To Wait For Unemployment Benefits To Restart
The decision came a week after Indiana had already stopped payments to around 120,000 Hoosiers, including the $300 weekly booster to other unemployment benefits. Despite Judge Hanley granting a preliminary injunction on the state and calling for the payments to continue until there was a resolution in the case the claimants had to wait. On 12 July the state Court of Appeals denied the states attempt to keep the payments on pause.
Indiana began retroactively paying unemployment compensation to those who have been waiting since they received their last payment for the week ending 19 June. The first day some 25,000 recipients received a payment for the back funds to the week of 26 June, the first week that recipients didnt receive a check, that were due to them according to state officials. Workers who have found employment since the state stopped paying enhanced benefits will receive payment for the weeks that they were still unemployed.
An appellate judge has denied ‘s unemployment appeal, meaning Indiana has to continue paying out the extra $300 weekly PUA benefits.Ohio also is being sued for ending the benefits. A hearing is set for July 21. Kentucky has kept the benefits
Trevor Peters
Approved Weeks Of The Program
Applications approved: weeks ending Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and Sept. 5, 2020.
If you were eligible for any of the approved weeks, you will receive the extra $300 retroactively for those weeks.
Washington state applied and was approved for all weeks available from the federal government. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is not funding any weeks beyond the week ending Sept. 5, 2020.
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Is What I See In The Calculator The Exact Amount Ill Receive
No. This calculator shows the average weekly unemployment payment in your state, plus the boost provided by the American Rescue Plan Act. You may qualify for more or less than that amount. Refer to your states unemployment website to learn more about whether you qualify and how much you might receive. This calculator should be used as an estimation tool only.
What Information Is Needed To Apply For Unemployment
In order to complete your application, youll need the following information and documents.
- Social Security Number
- Name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address
- Alien registration number and expiration date, if a non-citizen
- Oklahoma Drivers License or state-issued ID card number
- Name and address of the company on your paycheck stub or W-2 form
- Employment start and end date
- Wages earned and how you were paid
- Form SF8 or SF 50 if employed by the Federal government in the last 18 months
- DD Form 214 for military service in the previous 18 months
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What Is Included In Caa
The Continued Assistance Act included an extension for PEUC and PUA, as well as a new round of FPUC benefits.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation has both been extended up to 11 weeks, and were available between 12/27/20 and 3/13/21.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation was also included in this legislation which provided an additional $300 weekly federal benefit for all claim types for up to 11 weeks between 12/27/20 and 3/13/21.
This legislation also included a new program called Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation which adds an additional $100 weekly federal benefit for mixed earners that are UI claimants who received at least $5,000 in wages from a side gig or business. OESC will post additional FAQs when more information is available for this program.
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The Former Downtown Ymca: Y Lofts
The former downtown YMCA at Sixth Street and Denver Avenue has undergone a $9 million transformation into a 79-unit apartment building. Historical features such as hardwood from the Ys racquetball and basketball courts, white porcelain drinking fountains, even basketball goals and a scoreboard have been incorporated into the units. Leasing began earlier this year.
Read more about the latest news on the apartments in the old YMCA building.
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