Louisiana wants thousands of state and local government workers to send back $10 million in unemployment pay they received while still collecting regular pay after Hurricane Katrina.
A state audit found lax control by the state Department of Labor was the main reason the 5,439 ineligible workers were able to collect up to $258 a week, Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot said.
Administrative workers with the City of New Orleans received the most money with 2,233 wrongfully collecting $4.3 million. There were 1,638 state workers, many with the state Department of Health and Hospitals, who got $2.7 million.
The money was a small portion of the overall $560 million the department pay out in unemployment benefits to public and private workers in the four months after Katrina.
With residents spread nationwide and difficult to contact, state labor officials suspended the requirement for unemployment applicants to contact the department weekly to verify they are looking for jobs and to report any earnings, said assistant Labor Secretary Marianne Sullivan.
She said the agency suspended the call-in rule for 12 weeks based on meetings with officials from the governor's office, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the state AFL-CIO and the Council for a Better Louisiana.
The department has gotten back $3.3 million of improper payments so far, mostly from unused benefit debit cards. It seems unlikely the state will get all the money.
Some recipients interviewed by Theriot's office said they had notified the Labor Department they were working. Others said they were entitled to the money as disaster relief. One said he couldn't recall applying for the benefits and spent the unemployment aid without realizing from where it came.
State labor officials will not pursue fraud charges against those who got the extra unemployment money unless there is strong evidence that applicants tried to defraud the state.
2007-05-30 07:42:17 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ United States ➔ New Orleans
There were bound to be administrative mistakes in the aftermath of Katrina. My goodness they were plucking people off the roofs of their houses. I have never seen such a tragedy.
I can see both sides of it. When people do not even have a place to live, I can see them not following up properly when getting unemployment checks. IMO everyone should just forget it and go on from here. Most of those people lost so much in Katrina, I don't really even care about a couple hundred dollars a week in unemployment benefits. I realize how unfair this is to the people who did not unemployment benefits, but it would take so long to untangle this. Let us just forget it and try to do better next time there is a tragedy like this. Live and learn and try to improve.
2007-05-30 08:03:19 · answer #1 · answered by Patti C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is what frustrating? The fact that they got paid when they shouldn't have or that the state is asking for it back? The people were getting a regular paycheck and also collecting unemployment benefits. How would it be frustrating that the state wanted that money back?
2007-05-30 07:51:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not a victim of Katrina, so it is hard for me to relate to individuals such as yourself. But this information you have shared with us, does frustrate me to no end.
Yes, indeed, it is frustrating.
2007-05-30 07:50:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
AAHHH Really. I mean we gave A LOT!!! What more do they need?
2007-05-30 07:45:12 · answer #4 · answered by Vegaluna☺ 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋