Texas seeks millions from unemployed workers after state ‘overpaid’ benefits

By Eric Douglas of The Houston Chronicle.

This might be a sign of how unusual this recession is. The full article has many details on individual cases and how rules and red tape are affecting people.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"The state is trying to recoup tens of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits that it mistakenly paid to thousands of Texans, many of whom have already spent the money and face difficulties paying it back.

The Texas Workforce Commission has sent 46,000 notices to jobless workers seeking repayment of unemployment benefits that the state says were too high or for which the workers were not eligible. But people who received the notices say they applied for the benefits and spent them in good faith, approved by the state after navigating a difficult and confusing application process.

Cathy Rohde, a substitute teacher in Conroe, applied and was approved for unemployment benefits after the school district shut down in March and she stopped getting paid. But the first week of June, Rohde got a notice that she owes the state more than $1,800 because, under provisions preventing teachers from collecting unemployment during annual summer breaks, she was not eligible.

The overpayments are estimated at $32 million so far, according to data provided by the state. It’s the latest glitch in an unemployment system that was overwhelmed by claims following mandatory business shutdowns to slow the coronavirus pandemic in late March and the continued social-distancing measures that have kept many employers operating well below capacity. Some 3 million Texans were thrown out of work in less than three months, and nearly 650,000 are still waiting for unemployment benefits applications to be processed, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The agency said it has a team that audits unemployment claims to ensure that workers are eligible and receiving the right amount of benefits before checks go out. But that team may later find problems with benefits that were issued.

“TWC may receive new information that changes the outcome of a claim that can result in overpayment,” said Cisco Gamez, spokesperson for the TWC, in a statement."