WA state is still trying to take back millions of dollars in unemployment benefits from people who lost their jobs. Meanwhile, workers still can’t afford to pay those benefits back—it’s money people spent to pay the bills during a crisis, and was never meant to be a loan.
So workers are speaking out to demand the state waive these threatening “overpayment notices”. And FOX 13 News in Seattle took up the story:
“Nobody should be asked to pay back one cent of this in the first place…It was really upsetting and surprising.”
The WA Department of Employment Security (ESD) claims it can’t quickly waive these overpayments.
But what if your overpayment case gets covered on the Seattle evening news?
ESD demanded Chelsea’s family repay $7,900 in benefits.
Then Chelsea took her story to a reporter. Just days after her case aired on the news, the entire $7,900 balance suddenly disappeared.
Throughout the pandemic, ESD officials have claimed there’s little they can do to quickly address widespread backlogs and delays in benefits…only to somehow find solutions to individual issues as soon as a journalist gets involved.
While Chelsea got her overpayment cleared, thousands of people across the state are getting letters demanding they repay thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. Nobody should have to rely on individual reporters shaming the state into action.
ESD must waive all overpayments as a matter of equity and good conscience.