The Senate passed a bill Friday that would establish an unemployment fraud unit with within Workforce West Virginia.
Senate Bill 543 would create a division for investigating unemployment fraud and establishing training requirements for employees. The legislation authorizes the state’s unemployment commissioner to hire supervisory, legal and investigative workers to lead the way on inquiries when the unit has reasonable cause to believe fraud has occurred.
This action comes in response to a legislative audit that calculated that West Virginia paid out nearly $83 million in fraudulent unemployment claims during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Much of the fraud came from the incredible demand for benefit claims caused by the pandemic, as well as the structure that allowed people to certify their own pandemic unemployment claims.
During a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee early this week, Senators heard from former Workforce Director Chris McCauley. He shared that the the unit would help WorkForce submit subpoenas to get documents and financial information of people who submit fraudulent claims. According to testimony, state and federal law enforcement agencies are more likely to handle cases if WorkForce provides thorough reports to officials.
The bill now heads to the House of Delegates for consideration.
The Senate is adjourned until Monday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m.
