Texas demands 46,000 people return $32 million in overpaid unemployment benefits

[mystery-ak]

Texas demands 46,000 people return $32 million in overpaid unemployment benefits
By Rebecca Klar - 07/06/20 04:32 PM EDT

A Texas state agency is reportedly seeking repayments from thousands of state residents who lost their jobs in recent months after officials found 46,000 people were initially overpaid in unemployment benefits.

The agency estimates it overpaid unemployment benefits to claimants by $32 million, The Houston Chronicle first reported Monday.

Cisco Gamez, a spokesperson for the Texas Workforce Commission, told The Texas Tribune in an email that state law requires the commission to “recover all unemployment benefits overpayments.”


“Overpayments stay on your record until repaid,” Gamez said.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/506083-texas-demands-46000-people-return-32-million-in-overpaid-unemployment

[libertybele]

Texas demands 46,000 people return $32 million in overpaid unemployment benefits
By Rebecca Klar - 07/06/20 04:32 PM EDT

A Texas state agency is reportedly seeking repayments from thousands of state residents who lost their jobs in recent months after officials found 46,000 people were initially overpaid in unemployment benefits.

The agency estimates it overpaid unemployment benefits to claimants by $32 million, The Houston Chronicle first reported Monday.

Cisco Gamez, a spokesperson for the Texas Workforce Commission, told The Texas Tribune in an email that state law requires the commission to “recover all unemployment benefits overpayments.”


“Overpayments stay on your record until repaid,” Gamez said.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/506083-texas-demands-46000-people-return-32-million-in-overpaid-unemployment

Overpayments?  At least these people have gotten paid.  Maybe Abbot needs to give DeSantis some tips!

[catfish1957]

Works out to about $700 bucks a person.  Cheaper and easier fix, will be just deduct their next state related claim of benefits by that amount overpaid.  Tasking agencies trying to collect from that many people would cost more than what's collected.

[Smokin Joe]

Works out to about $700 bucks a person.  Cheaper and easier fix, will be just deduct their next state related claim of benefits by that amount overpaid.  Tasking agencies trying to collect from that many people would cost more than what's collected.

...especially if they are still out of work.

[Elderberry]

If they are still unemployed they better hit the pavement and find work as they will get no more unemployment benefits until the over-payment is cleared.

[libertybele]

Works out to about $700 bucks a person.  Cheaper and easier fix, will be just deduct their next state related claim of benefits by that amount overpaid.  Tasking agencies trying to collect from that many people would cost more than what's collected.

What's the max benefit that one can collect in TX?  $700/wk is quite substantial.  Max here in FL is $275/wk.

[Elderberry]

The max in Texas is $521

[Elderberry]

Texas reverses course, says it won't collect overpaid unemployment benefits in instances when it was the state's mistake

Texas Tribune by Juan Pablo Garnham July 9, 2020


https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/09/texas-unemployment-overpayment/

A Texas Workforce Commission spokesperson said he was previously unaware that a judicial order bars the state from recovering funds when the overpayment is the agency's fault.

Workers who lost their jobs and received overpayments from the Texas Workforce Commission won’t have to pay back those unemployment benefits if it was the state’s mistake, commission officials now say.

That's different from the agency's previous insistence, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, that the 46,000 Texans who received overpayments in recent months would have to pay the state back — even if they were not to blame.

“Texas is prevented by court order from collecting overpayments caused solely by the commission's error,” spokesperson Cisco Gamez said Wednesday during a media update posted on Facebook. That court order, which Gamez said he was previously unaware of, dates to 1978.

More at link.

[sneakypete]

“Overpayments stay on your record until repaid,” Gamez said.

@mystery-ak

That,and a strongly-worded letter to "The Times" ought to do it.