LaPointe Measure Would Address IDES Overpayment, Return Money to Residents in Need

CHICAGO – Illinois residents who were overpaid by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), through no fault of their own and whose money was unfairly recouped, could receive a refund under state Rep. Lindsey LaPointe’s, D-Chicago, new proposal.

“With families still struggling from the devastating effects of this pandemic, we should not burden them further due to errors on IDES’ end,” LaPointe said. “We took action to create a waiver system to help those most in need, but there are too many who were forced to pay back money they should not have. We can’t forget about them.”

LaPointe’s House Bill 4127 builds on action taken earlier this year by the General Assembly, led by LaPointe, to create a waiver process for individuals experiencing financial hardship who did not commit fraud and were overpaid by IDES. LaPointe’s plan corrects an oversight to ensure that qualified residents who already voluntarily and involuntarily paid back money to IDES can be screened for waiver eligibility and be refunded. In some cases, IDES sought to recollect these overpayments through garnished wages and tax refund interceptions despite the fact the impacted individuals did nothing wrong.

“While I fully understand the difficult times IDES is experiencing, my office is up close to the hardship our families have experienced for the past 18 months. We need to prioritize the notice and processing of waivers as soon as we can,” LaPointe said. “With all that is going on and given that the Governor signed the original bill to address this in June, our struggling families shouldn’t have debt and a bureaucratic mess hanging over their heads for one more day.”

For more information, please contact Info@RepLaPointe.com.