$2 Billion SNAFU by Pritzker Administration

From State Rep. Dan Ugaste:

Ugaste Demands Hearings on Nearly $2 Billion in Fraudulent Payments from IDES

ST. CHARLES – Following the release of a state audit revealing that nearly $2 billion of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) were payments tied to fraud, State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) joined House Republicans in calling for immediate hearings into operations at the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).

“Learning that almost $2 billion was paid out to fraudsters from IDES during a time when Illinoisans critically needed this assistance is appalling,” said Rep. Ugaste.

“The General Assembly must hold this agency accountable for such inexcusable mismanagement in a time of crisis for many Illinois residents.

“These are taxpayer dollars.

“We need to get to the bottom of this issue immediately, starting with legislative hearings.”

The PUA federal program provided benefits for individuals “determined ineligible for state unemployment benefits, including self-employed workers and independent contractors,” according to IDES.

“This applied to individuals unqualified for regular unemployment insurance who were unavailable or unable to work for reasons because of COVID-19 that were allowed by federal law.

“This audit disclosed that nearly $1.9 billion of $3.6 billion in PUA paid between June 2020 and July 2021 was tied to fraud.

“This covered a great deal of the time period of the program’s operation.

According to the Chicago Tribune, an investigation they published last year identified “problems in Illinois were exacerbated” with the department’s failure in adopting fraud-fighting tools that were free and made available prior to the pandemic, per federal recommendations.

The Tribune also highlighted that IDES was slow with developing additional procedures to detect fraud and those failures were not reviewed in the audit.

Rep. Ugaste previously joined State Representative Tim Butler (R-Springfield), former State Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), and Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) in a 2020 Zoom video press conference calling Governor Pritzker to fix the problems of fraud at IDES.


Comments

$2 Billion SNAFU by Pritzker Administration — 8 Comments

  1. Lol. How much went to the 4 Bailey grift operations?

    Keep voting the same way IL. Maybe drunken Devore as AG will also help get to the bottom of this grift? He loves Bailey.

    Stupid IL voters. Keep it up.

  2. Actually, Ugaste supported Irvin right out of the gate.

    He’s typical of why only 22% of the voters are Republican
    with this hypocritical blast about something that everyone knew was happening in 2020.

    I actually supported him
    when he first ran.

    Then he caught the Springfield Establishment disease like Dan McConchie, another “conservative” I supported initially.

    The reason why we have a terrible state is up till now, we have rewarded the Republican Establishment that cares more about Rauner’s or Griffin’s money than actually winning over voters.

    At least Bailey stood up to Pritzker on the mandates when everyone else was hiding under a rock.

    All the other side has, like they did with Jeanne Ives, the “Madigan Republican”, is smear and sneer like JT is doing.

    It’s Freudian projection on steroids.

    Everyone else is a Democrat when the truth is, it is a Uniparty that unites when anyone tries to change anything on spending or regulation that might cut off the graft.

  3. Huh. Smear and sneer against a career politician. So, Grant you have a career politician put in place using cheating in DC. Should we keep putting career politicians in office in IL? Darren Bailey and Irvin fit that description. I plan on leaving my R draw ballot empty for county clerk because Tirio is part of the problem and has zero interest in solving it. I guess I’m a fanciful tale and misinformation kind of guy.

    Feel free to vote for Bailey and expect that hick to change your life in IL. Lots of Forrest Gump’s in this state. No wonder Del Webb is thriving in this state.

  4. KT is right. What really need are the crazy and delusional. Yeah, that’ll work out for the best.

  5. Correcting aka MellowMonk aka NefariousShake. Clean your site up Cal. Give me access to your MySql database. I’ll need 10 minutes to show you the proof. Better yet download the tables and post them here. I bet I’m not the only one with analytical and database skills. LOL.

  6. Why does Bobby Piton attack Mary Miller who is endorsed by Trump?

    Either Miller will win or Davis will win. By attacking Miller, Piton is helping Rodney Davis.

    Simple as that.

    Any person who supports Trump should vote for Mary Miller, yet “JT” and Bobby attack Miller.

    Piton is a fraud. His MO is to pretend conservatives and Trumpers are no different than progressive Democrats, which is exactly what JT does.

    JT and Bobby both refuse to go to events in McHenry County that they can’t be in control of.

    JT ditched out on questioning Joe Tirio.

    Bobby Piton ditched out on a forum in McHenry County and JT has the nerve to criticize Salvi for missing it.

    A quick search of Bobby Piton shows his work with Rothschild Investment Corporation. lol

    This guy was nowhere in politics until the last few years, and his sole motive seems to be to sow discord in elections and make people hate Republicans like Mary Miller, Darren Bailey, and Tom DeVore.

    JT does the same thing plus with Joe Tirio, and JT seems to have little understanding of local, state, or national politics.

    JT is an insufferable, annoying person and based on what I’ve seen from Piton’s behavior and what I’ve heard about him he is too.

  7. Ugaste a cheap crook?

    Cal, don’t look aghast!

    You betcha! But so is DeWitte and Syverson!

    Noble is a truth teller!

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