House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, slammed Gov. Tim Walz and other Minnesota Democrats over a recent government report which documented improper unemployment insurance payments that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor, Minnesota overpaid unemployment insurance recipients by roughly $428 million during a three-year period from July of 2020 through June of 2023. Describing the situation as a “pattern of fraud and waste presided over by Minnesota Democrats,” Demuth denounced the mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.
“This revelation brings the state’s total for known fraud and waste in government programs to nearly a billion dollars during the time Governor Walz has led the state. These are dollars that should be going to the people who truly need them, and those responsible for allowing this fraud and waste must be held accountable. Minnesotans deserve better than a governor who counts ‘not the worst’ as a victory,” said the GOP leader.
The $428 million of unemployment overpayments occurred due to a variety of different factors.
According to the Department of Labor, nearly half of the overpayments in Minnesota were issued because recipients claimed unemployment benefits after returning to work. Another 30% of the overpayments went to people who were ineligible for unemployment benefits because they voluntarily quit their jobs or were discharged for cause.
In total, Minnesota issued over $4.3 billion of unemployment payments during the three-year period, according to data from the Department of Labor.
In 2019, the federal government passed a law which requires unemployment benefit programs in all 50 states to meet certain performance standards. Among those standards, states must ensure that improper unemployment insurance payments, including both overpayments and under-payments, are no more than 10% of all issued payments.
Minnesota’s unemployment benefits program had an overpayment rate of 9.78% across the three-year period from July of 2020 through June of 2023; only eight other states had lower overpayment rates during the same period. Meanwhile, states such as Rhode Island, Tennessee, Florida, and Virginia had overpayment rates higher than 35%.
Minnesota’s under-payment rate was 0.128%. As such, the state’s total improper payment percentage was 9.911%, thus barely meeting the aforementioned federal standard.
Republicans have repeatedly called attention to fraud, waste, and mismanagement that has occurred while Democrats have controlled much of state government.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
