Latest action: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 29.
Bill is filed in its originating chamber and assigned a number.
Sponsor
Jason Smith (R-MO)
Filed in the House.
Next: In Committee
Members of the committee(s) the bill was referred to
Bill to enforce penalties and recover funds from pandemic unemployment fraud.
The problem
During COVID-19, unemployment benefits were distributed with weak controls, resulting in billions in fraudulent payments that went to ineligible people.
The proposal
The bill establishes enforcement mechanisms, penalties, and recovery procedures to prosecute fraud and reclaim misspent pandemic unemployment funds.
The impact
Unemployed workers facing investigation, employers, states managing fraud recovery, and taxpayers funding the program are all affected by enforcement actions.
Enforcing fraud penalties and recovery procedures helps return billions in misspent funds to the government. This reduces the fiscal burden on taxpayers who funded these benefits.
Clear penalties and active enforcement discourage people from committing unemployment fraud in future emergencies. This protects program integrity and public trust.
Cracking down on fraud ensures that benefits go to people who truly need them. This maintains program integrity for eligible workers.
Investigation, prosecution, and recovery efforts require significant government spending on staff, systems, and legal action. Costs may reduce net recovery in some cases.
Some fraud may have occurred due to system confusion, language barriers, or desperation during crisis. Harsh penalties could harm people who unintentionally received overpayments.
States managing fraud cases face administrative costs and complexity. Local resources may be stretched thin implementing federal enforcement requirements.
Increased verification and enforcement scrutiny could slow processing of legitimate unemployment claims during future emergencies when people need help quickly.
Generated by AI from the bill text. Not a prediction and not legal or policy advice. The percentage is the model's own rating of each item — self-reported, and not a measure of how accurate it is.
Loading map…
Loading...
0 citizens have already voted
Free · No spam · See how your representatives voted
Be the first to weigh in
Your vote starts the conversation
How citizen engagement works
Citizens vote & comment
Public opinion data is aggregated and updated in real time.
Patterns become visible
Representatives can see constituent sentiment broken down by district.
Your voice on the record
Contact your rep directly — one constituent call can shift a staffer's priority list.
Research shows that constituent contacts — especially calls — are among the most effective ways to influence a legislator's position on active bills.
Other bills in this policy area
HRES 1607
Expressing support for the designation of September 2026 as "National Workforce Development Month".
HR 10703
Protecting Workers’ Benefits Act
S 5615
VEST Act
S 5646
Direct Seller and Real Estate Agent Harmonization Act
Individual contributions, grouped by employer · FEC
Where their individual donors work · 2026 cycle
Money from people who work there, not from the company. Not tied to this bill.
Itemized individual contributions via FEC, grouped by the employer each contributor self-reported. Companies and unions cannot contribute to federal candidates from their treasuries, so these totals are money from people who work at an employer — never from the organization itself. They are campaign contributions covering a full election cycle and are not connected to this bill.
Senate LDA lobbying disclosures
Couldn't load lobbying disclosures right now.