Congresswoman Tenney Demands Answers Surrounding Unemployment Insurance Fraud

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24), member of the Ways and Means Committee, participated in yesterday’s first Ways and Means hearing in Washington, DC. The hearing examined the unchecked Unemployment Fraud that occurred throughout the pandemic, costing taxpayers billions to fraud, waste, and abuse.

Congresswoman Tenney has been leading the charge in New York to hold the state accountable after a report by the New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s report found rampant Unemployment Insurance fraud totaling $11 billion. Tenney also led a group of New York lawmakers last year in expressing concerns over the Comptroller’s decision to delay the release of that damning report until days after New York’s 2022 gubernatorial election between Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin.   

Tenney’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this timely hearing, and thank you to our witnesses for joining us today. 

It’s long past due that this committee hold a hearing to investigate the rampant fraud in our nation’s unemployment programs.  For years, Democrats have virtually ignored this important issue and refused to hold hearings on it, all while taxpayers and small businesses in New York’s 24th District have paid the price.

Recent findings from GAO estimate that total fraud across the country reached at least $60 billion, with some outside experts going as high as $400 billion. New York alone is estimated to have paid as much as $11 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefits since March 2020. In fact, a survey I conducted with my constituents found countless cases of individuals receiving unemployment forms they hadn’t requested, or dealing with the ramifications of having their identity stolen. 

On top of all that, New York has an outstanding trust fund loan of nearly $8 billion, which it has yet to repay.  Because of this gross mismanagement by the state, taxpayers and small businesses must now make up the difference.  After all the hardships they’ve endured the past several years, how can it possibly be fair to ask them to pick up the tab for this negligence and incompetence too?

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