Lauren Weber

speaker

740 appearances 12 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2017 last heard Dec 2024

Lauren Weber’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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WSJ Your Money Briefing · Some Unemployment Benefit Recipients Have to Pay Money Back · 5 Oct 2020 podcast

But a big part of the problem right now is that the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, PUA, which is the one that applies to gig workers and the self-employed and independent contractors, voice-verified

That program was designed under the same program that guides disaster unemployment assistance. voice-verified

Basically, that program, which guides disaster relief, does not have the waiver language in it. voice-verified

So states are legally required to try to get this money back. voice-verified

Now, it was probably an administrative oversight when the CARES Act was passed in March. voice-verified

You know, there was a lot in that act, and this might have been something that just was sort of missed by the people who were writing it. voice-verified

There is potential for relief inside the Democrats in the House. voice-verified

They introduced the latest version of the HEROES Act, and it includes a provision to make it possible for states to waive the PUA overpayments. voice-verified

So we'll see if anything moves with that. voice-verified

I know. voice-verified

I think it really is. voice-verified

However, it's so difficult to actually reach a human being if you're a claimant who's received one of these overpayment notices. voice-verified

The woman that I spoke to in Colorado, she said she called the office nearly 60 times before she was finally able to get somebody on the phone. voice-verified

They're so swamped and overwhelmed, these agencies, that it's very difficult for people to actually reach somebody who can help them understand what's going on, get some answers and find out if they have any recourse. voice-verified

And then, of course, once they do get somebody on the phone, they've got to hope that person actually knows what they're talking about and has been adequately trained. voice-verified

and understands the law. voice-verified

So there are a lot of complications here. voice-verified

But yes, I don't envy the person who's working for the state and has to explain to somebody who isn't working, doesn't have an income, doesn't have a job, or is getting by on very little, you know, that they now owe thousands of dollars back to the state. voice-verified

I think the hope is that some of these wrinkles have been ironed out and the states will have better figured out how to implement the systems, what kind of data and information to use to make sure that this doesn't happen again. voice-verified

Thanks for having me. voice-verified

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