Bill Text: CT SB00320 | 2014 | General Assembly | Introduced

Connecticut Senate Bill 320 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: An Act Concerning Unemployment Fraud.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-03 - Public Hearing 03/11 [SB00320 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-SB00320-Introduced.html


General Assembly		*Raised Bill No. 320*
*February Session, 2014*		LCO No. 1814
		01814_______LAB
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)

AN ACT CONCERNING UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 31-273 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

(a) (1) Any person who, through error, has received any sum as benefits under this chapter while any condition for the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter was not fulfilled in his case, or has received a greater amount of benefits than was due him under this chapter, shall be charged with an overpayment of a sum equal to the amount so overpaid to him, provided such error has been discovered and brought to his attention within one year of the date of receipt of such benefits. A person whose receipt of such a sum was not due to fraud, wilful misrepresentation or wilful nondisclosure by himself or another shall be entitled to a hearing before an examiner designated by the administrator. Such examiner shall determine: [whether: (A) Such] (A) The sum such person shall repay [such sum] to the administrator for the Unemployment Compensation Fund, and (B) whether such sum shall be recouped by offset from such person's unemployment benefits or through other means as prescribed by the examiner. [, or (C) repayment or recoupment of such sum would defeat the purpose of the benefits or be against equity and good conscience and should be waived.] In any case where the examiner determines that such sum shall be recouped by offset from a person's unemployment benefits, the deduction from benefits shall not exceed fifty per cent of the person's weekly benefit amount. Where such offset is insufficient to recoup the full amount of the overpayment, the claimant shall repay the remaining amount in accordance with a repayment schedule as determined by the examiner. If the claimant fails to repay according to the schedule, the administrator may recover such overpayment through a wage execution against the claimant's earnings upon his return to work in accordance with the provisions of section 52-361a, and the administrator may request the Commissioner of Administrative Services to seek reimbursement for such amount pursuant to section 12-742. Any person with respect to whom a determination of overpayment has been made, according to the provisions of this subsection, shall be given notice of such determination and the provisions for repayment or recoupment of the amount overpaid. No repayment shall be required and no deduction from benefits shall be made until the determination of overpayment has become final.

(2) The determination of overpayment shall be final unless the claimant, within twenty-one days after notice of such determination was mailed to him at his last-known address, files an appeal from such determination to a referee, except that any such appeal that is filed after such twenty-one-day period may be considered to be timely filed if the filing party shows good cause, as defined in regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-249h, for the late filing. If the last day for filing an appeal falls on any day when the offices of the Employment Security Division are not open for business, such last day shall be extended to the next business day. If any such appeal is filed by mail, the appeal shall be considered timely filed if the appeal was received within such twenty-one-day period or bears a legible United States postal service postmark that indicates that within such twenty-one-day period the appeal was placed in the possession of postal authorities for delivery to the appropriate office. Posting dates attributable to private postage meters shall not be considered in determining the timeliness of appeals filed by mail.

(3) The appeal shall be heard in the same manner provided in section 31-242 for an appeal from the decision of an examiner on a claim for benefits. Any party aggrieved by the decision of the referee, including the administrator, may appeal to the Employment Security Board of Review in the manner provided in section 31-249. Decisions of the board may be appealed to the Superior Court in the manner provided in section 31-249b. The administrator is authorized, eight years after the payment of any benefits described in this subsection, to cancel any claim for such repayment or recoupment which in his opinion is uncollectible. Effective January 1, 1996, and annually thereafter, the administrator shall report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to labor and public employees, the aggregate number and value of all such claims deemed uncollectible and therefore cancelled during the previous calendar year. Any determination of overpayment made under this section which becomes final may be enforced by a wage execution in the same manner as a judgment of the Superior Court when the claimant fails to pay according to his repayment schedule. The court may issue a wage execution upon any final determination of overpayment in the same manner as in cases of judgments rendered in the Superior Court, and upon the filing of an application to the court for an execution, the administrator shall send to the clerk of the court a certified copy of such determination.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Not later than October 1, 2014, the Labor Department shall register with the State Information Data Exchange System and shall utilize such system for the purposes of the administration of chapter 567 of the general statutes.

(b) Not later than January 1, 2015, the department shall (1) conduct a review of the methods utilized by the department to award benefits under chapter 567 of the general statutes, and (2) implement a system to provide each person receiving benefits under said chapter with an accounting of such benefits to verify the accuracy of the benefits.

(c) Not later than July 1, 2015, the Labor Commissioner shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to labor and public employees on the status of the review conducted and system implemented pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2014	31-273(a)
Sec. 2	from passage	New section

Statement of Purpose:

To remove the ability of unemployment compensation claims examiners to waive the repayment of overpayments and to require the Labor Department to (1) register with the State Information Data Exchange System for the purpose of administering chapter 567 of the general statutes, (2) review the methods it uses to award unemployment benefits, and (3) implement a system to allow recipients of benefits to verify that they are receiving the proper amount of benefits.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]