Senator Jon Husted (R-Ohio) has introduced new legislation aimed at canceling unspent tax dollars allocated during the COVID-19 pandemic for emergency unemployment payments. The bill, known as the Clawing back Lapsed Obligations from State Emergency programs (CLOSE) Act, seeks to terminate these emergency programs and return unused funds.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, is an original co-sponsor of the bill. Representative Max Miller (R-Ohio) has introduced a companion version in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Ohio’s private sector completely recovered all the jobs that were lost during the COVID-19 pandemic in just two years, and jobs have only continued to grow since then. Aimlessly and unnecessarily dispersing nearly $1 billion would be a fraudster’s paradise. We need to continue focusing on fiscal responsibility and protecting hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” said Husted.
“In 2020, Congress acted quickly to help Americans who lost their jobs, but trying to distribute these funds seven years later is not relief, it’s an invitation for fraud. The CLOSE Act protects taxpayers, closes the door on waste and abuse, and brings a responsible end to emergency programs that have already served their purpose,” said Miller.
The CARES Act was enacted in 2020 to provide emergency unemployment assistance during the pandemic. Ohio was among 24 states that stopped further distribution of these funds after state officials determined they discouraged people from returning to work. At that time, Husted advocated for ending the CARES Act while serving as Ohio’s Lieutenant Governor.
Despite the end of the COVID-19 emergency, funding for these programs remains available. Lawmakers argue that distributing this money now is risky because many original applicants have either moved away, died, or provided incorrect information over the past seven years. This situation raises concerns about potential large-scale fraud if funds are distributed under outdated eligibility criteria.
The CLOSE Act targets several specific programs: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
The full text of the bill can be found here.