Pandemic unemployment overpayments totaled $430M in Minnesota, report says

By Beret Leone

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    MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — A new report shows Minnesota overpaid hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

The state overpaid about $430 million in unemployment insurance during the pandemic, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department said these claims happened between July 2020 and June 2023.

The state’s not alone in these payouts. In fact, Minnesota falls into a category of nearly three dozen states that had unemployment insurance overpayments during the three-year pandemic period.

Nationally, the country paid out $980 billion during the pandemic.

House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth has come forward condemning the overpayment and what she calls “waste revelation.”

Though $430 million might seem like a huge number, the state is actually on the lower end when you compare its total to other states.

A map from the labor department breaks down improper payment rates by percentage. California, Wisconsin and Florida had rates higher than 13 %.

Texas and Washington had rates between 10% and 13%.

Montana, Utah and North Dakota had rates less than 10%.

There are only six states with better rates than Minnesota.

The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 requires programs to report an annual improper payment rate below 10%. Only eight states meet that threshold, and Minnesota is one of them.

The labor department says that 95% of Minnesota’s overpayments were due to errors by the people claiming, employers or a combination of both.

Since last fall, the state has recovered about $77 million of its overpayment money.

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