HJ0017 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0017 LRB102 15785 ECR 21152 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois, like every other governmental unit across the country, is facing one of the most challenging circumstances in recent history with the Covid-19 crisis; facing these challenges, ranging from the health and well-being of our most vulnerable residents to the livelihoods of individuals, has proved incredibly difficult; and

WHEREAS, Numerous State agencies have tried to handle the challenge and, indeed, much great effort has been exerted; however, the need and the demand continue to place an incredible strain on our systems; and

WHEREAS, Nowhere, perhaps, has this been more the case than at the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES); and

WHEREAS, In addition to the tremendous cost of life taken by this global pandemic, the economic effects on the State have left many without a job, a career, and even a business; and

WHEREAS, With the voluminous number of persons that have become unemployed, there has been a previously unheard of rate of individuals seeking UI benefits; and

WHEREAS, Early on, this demand was met with grossly inept deficiencies in our IDES systems that led to serious issues, which contributed to various errors and delays; then, to compound the problems, it was learned the voluminous number of claims led to a series of data breaches and serious disruptions to the claim-processing procedures; and

WHEREAS, IDES, facing these challenges, has taken steps to repair the damage that was done and is working to bring new protections; IDES has enter into partnerships with third-parties and fellow State agencies to make sure these same problems are avoided; yet, there remain unresolved issues; and

WHEREAS, The issue of identity theft is a very serious and damaging one that was identified by IDES; yet, there were additional issues identified with regards to unemployment insurance fraud; and

WHEREAS, The State has established an IDES Identity Theft Line, has entered into contracts with outside firms to investigate cases of fraud and identified theft, and continues to assist impacted individuals; there needs to be a greater effort made to protect workers and businesses from being negatively impacted by this fraudulent activity; and

WHEREAS, IDES is now faced with the task of helping those individuals and businesses that were, are, or will be affected by acts of identity theft and unemployment insurance fraud stemming from pandemic-related claims; and

WHEREAS, In 2021, there continue to be reports of individuals having difficulty applying for and receiving unemployment insurance benefits, reports of rampant insurance fraud, and failures at the Department level to account for, flag, and otherwise contain cases of fraud in the unemployment insurance benefit systems; and

WHEREAS, The various issues that have plagued IDES must be completely identified, reviewed, and studied so as to understand where there is a need for accountability on the part of the Administration and for corrective measures to be taken; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Auditor General is directed to conduct a performance audit of the Illinois Department of Employment Security's administration of the Unemployment Insurance Act; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Employment Security and any other State agency, entity, or person that may have information relevant to this audit cooperate fully and promptly with the Auditor General's office in its conduct; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence this audit as soon as possible and, upon completion, distribute a report in accordance with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act.