Lawmakers Push For Investigation Of State Unemployment Agency

Two State Senators and a State Representative are calling on the Michigan Auditor General’s Office to open an investigation into the operations of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.  The lawmakers say the agency responsible for managing unemployment benefits assistance is running into a big hole with no vision to work out of it. Marshall Republican Representative Matt Hall is joined by Senator  Aric Nesbitt of Lawton, and Upper Peninsula Senator Ed McBroom demanding the probe. The lawmakers say there’s a series of critical issues being mismanaged by the Agency. Among them, processing benefits for state residents which they say remains a big mess, and how the agency has been handling security issues and staffing. Combined, the three lawmakers say the issues point to a downhill slide for the agency responsible for handling hundreds of millions of dollars.

Representative Hall says maybe the most damaging is continued delays faced by many state residents getting unemployment assistance. It’s happening long after the state claimed the issues were handled. Hall also points to an ongoing fraud investigation where a state employee is charged with committing fraud to the tune of about 2 million dollars against the system. But even after she was charged and terminated, somehow was allowed access to her state-provided computer. Hall says additional fraud may have occurred.