• Overpaid unemployment compensation benefits;

• Benefits obtained by reason of nondisclosure or misrepresentation of a material fact; or

• Benefits obtained by reason of error, omission, or lack of knowledge of a material fact on the part of the Division of Employment Security

through billing, setoffs against state and federal tax refunds, intercepts of lottery winnings, and collection efforts as provided under current law.

The act further requires 15% of payments made toward a penalty assessed for benefits fraudulently received to be immediately deposited into the state unemployment compensation fund. The remaining penalty amount due is credited to the special employment security fund.

Current law states that any person who receives unemployment compensation benefits as a result of error or lack of knowledge of material fact on the part of the Division, shall have such sums of benefits deducted from future benefits, after an opportunity for a fair hearing. This act gives the Division the discretion, after an opportunity for a fair hearing, to either deduct the sums of wrongfully paid benefits from future benefits payable to the individual or require repayment to the Division the amount of benefits wrongfully received.

This act is identical to a provision in SB 702 (2016), SB 406 (2015) and the perfected version of HB 1010 (2015).

SCOTT SVAGERA