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Feds: Arkansas Pays $161 Million in ‘Improper’ Unemployment Benefits (Updated!)

September 15, 2011 David Kinkade

Wasted unemployment funds in Arkansas
Click image for more.

From the department of waste, fraud and abuse: New data from the U.S. Department of Labor tells the sad tale of how states made some $19 billion in “improper” unemployment benefits over the last three years.

In Arkansas, that total runs to more than $161 million in erroneous payments from 2008-2011, according to DOL. The lion’s share of the erroneous payments, 63 percent, were made to people who continued receiving benefits after they had gone back to work, when they were no longer eligible.

The data was released this week as part of a White House push to cut waste. Good luck with that! And though Arkansas’s $161 million tab is ugly, it’s uglier yet in other states, reports the Wall Street Journal:

The Labor Department launched a plan to crack down on the improper payments, targeting Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, Washington, Louisiana and Arizona in particular for their high error rates. Those states will undergo additional monitoring and technical assistance until their error rates dip below 10% and remain there for at least six months, according to the Labor Department.

We might surmise that much of the waste stems from rapidly increased demand for unemployment benefits from 2008 to 2011, and from the massive influx of dollars into the program via the Obama administration’s 2009 economic stimulus plan (with Arkansas getting more than $807 million in stimulus funds to prop up unemployment insurance, as we learned last month).

The news does little to bolster confidence in Obama’s latest push to tackle the jobs problem through, in part, further extensions of unemployment benefits. But even Democrats in Washington are running pretty cool on that new proposal, aren’t they?

UPDATE: Roby Brock at the indispensable Talk Business has picked up on this story and adds some helpful context to the discussion:

Arkansas’ unemployment trust fund went as deep as $360 million in debt to the federal government as the state borrowed money from the feds to pay for jobless benefits. Arkansas legislators and business leaders changed a number of provisions in the past two sessions to repair the trust fund’s solvency and projected that the state could be debt-free by 2015.

Filed Under: Smaller Government, Uncategorized Tagged With: department of labor, unemployment, unemployment benefits, waste fraud and abuse

Comments

  1. Br549 says

    September 15, 2011 at 9:21 am

    Well, I for one am pissed. High pissed, I tell ya. I was under the distinct understanding that by electing the class we did in 2010, that all of this would be stopped.

    Why is this not fixed? Congress, are you listening???

  2. David Kinkade says

    September 15, 2011 at 9:28 am

    My goodness, Br549, what a feeble attempt at deflecting responsibility given that your beloved Team Blue:

    1) Has controlled the federal executive branch since 2009;
    2) Controlled both houses of Congress for 2/3 of the period in question; and
    3) Held a tight grip on the entirety of Arkansas state government, whence the erroneous payments were made, for the entire period.

    To omit those facts is either stupid or dishonest.

    And I know you’re not stupid.
    D.

  3. Br549 says

    September 15, 2011 at 9:32 am

    My apologies. I just read the headline.

    Give me a couple days to read what you wrote and all the links provided.

    Then rest assured, I will be able to clearly explain how this is all George W. Bush’s fault.

  4. j wright says

    September 15, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    I think this job plan may be taking a page from Stephen Colbert. Since unemployment numbers are based on the number of people _looking for work_ not the number of people w/o jobs…getting as many people as possible to stop looking for work automatically lowers the unemployment rate.

  5. Computer Geek says

    September 15, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    Funny stuff, Br549, if all else fails, blame Bush 🙂

    Sounds like a skit from Hee-Haw.

  6. AB International says

    September 20, 2011 at 7:12 am

    still the comparison is quite clear ………..

Trackbacks

  1. Arkansas overpaid jobless benefits by $161 million | Arkansas News | Arkasas Breaking News Headlines | Arkansas News Directory says:
    September 16, 2011 at 7:57 am

    […] Kinkade with The Arkansas Project first reported a […]

  2. Who Will Crack Case of the $161 Million in Missing State Unemployment Funds? | The Arkansas Project says:
    September 16, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    […] lot of interest from our post yesterday about the federal government’s report that Arkansas had made more than $161 million in imprope… over the last three years. So much so, in fact, that the question of just what happened to all […]

  3. Beebe’s Summer of Discontent Continues Into Fall | Red Arkansas Blog says:
    September 20, 2011 at 9:18 am

    […] the Department of Workforce Services and double-dipper Artee Williams, who seems to have misplaced $161 million in taxpayer’s money over the last three […]

  4. Fun With Numbers: Let's Estimate Double-Dipper Artee Williams' Pension! | The Arkansas Project says:
    September 20, 2011 at 10:51 am

    […] story about the Arkansas Dept. of Workforce Services making $161 million in improper unemployment payments has opened up some swell reportage and commentary from around the state. A […]

  5. Study: Since 2008, Arkansas made more than $19 billion in erroneous jobless benefit payments | Between Editions says:
    September 20, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    […] of possible faulty payments in the Union County unemployment benefits fund months ago. Last week, the Arkansas Project blog reported on a study that points to $161 million in erroneous unemployment benefit payments in […]

  6. Arkansas Workforce Services: "We Only Squandered $23.8 Million!" | The Arkansas Project says:
    September 22, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    […] Sider follows up with state Dept. of Workforce Services (DWS) officials on the question of some $161 million in improper unemployment payments made over the last three years. Surprise! They say it’s not that much (subscription […]

  7. Who Will Crack Case of the $161 Million in Missing State Unemployment Funds? | Arkansas News says:
    September 27, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    […] Feds: Arkansas Pays $161 Million in ‘Improper’ Unemployment Benefits (Updated!) […]

  8. The Incredible Shrinking Governor | Red Arkansas Blog says:
    September 28, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    […] Mr. Beebe’s woes (on top of the summer’s double-dipping, illegal crony appointing and misspent taxpayer money controversies) comes in the form of a letter authored by … wait for it … the minority […]

  9. Don't Forget That The Arkansas Unemployment Insurance Nightmare Is Still A Thing! says:
    October 6, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    […] you’ll recall, last month we learned that the federal government had identified an estimated $161 million in improper unemploy… issued by Arkansas government from […]

  10. Beebe Administration Just Won't Take No For An Answer on Health Exchange! says:
    October 11, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    […] promises to combine all the administrative integrity of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery with the fiscal responsibility of the Department of Workforce Services. I cannot wait! Related Posts:Jay Bradford’s Selling Hard on Health Insurance Exchanges. Are […]

  11. Study: Now Let's Reform Disastrous Unemployment Insurance Program To Make It Somewhat Less Disastrous says:
    October 17, 2011 at 5:28 pm

    […] 17, 2011 David Kinkade Leave a Comment Ugh, the Arkansas unemployment insurance (UI) system, what a mess, am I right, people? What, oh, what could ever be done to fix such a terrible program, that is what […]

  12. More Stimulus Snafus: Arkansas Green Jobs Training Program a Bust! says:
    November 18, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    […] colleges and non-profits. (There are plenty of good reasons to beat up on DWS—I can think of, oh, maybe 161 million of ‘em. This just probably isn’t one of […]

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