Full Text of HJR0017 102nd General Assembly
HJ0017 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois, like every other | 3 | | governmental unit across the country, is facing one of the | 4 | | most challenging circumstances in recent history with the | 5 | | Covid-19 crisis; facing these challenges, ranging from the | 6 | | health and well-being of our most vulnerable residents to the | 7 | | livelihoods of individuals, has proved incredibly difficult; | 8 | | and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Numerous State agencies have tried to handle the | 10 | | challenge and, indeed, much great effort has been exerted; | 11 | | however, the need and the demand continue to place an | 12 | | incredible strain on our systems; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Nowhere, perhaps, has this been more the case | 14 | | than at the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES); | 15 | | and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, In addition to the tremendous cost of life taken | 17 | | by this global pandemic, the economic effects on the State | 18 | | have left many without a job, a career, and even a business; | 19 | | and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, With the voluminous number of persons that have | 21 | | become unemployed, there has been a previously unheard of rate |
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| 1 | | of individuals seeking UI benefits; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Early on, this demand was met with grossly inept | 3 | | deficiencies in our IDES systems that led to serious issues, | 4 | | which contributed to various errors and delays; then, to | 5 | | compound the problems, it was learned the voluminous number of | 6 | | claims led to a series of data breaches and serious | 7 | | disruptions to the claim-processing procedures; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, IDES, facing these challenges, has taken steps to | 9 | | repair the damage that was done and is working to bring new | 10 | | protections; IDES has enter into partnerships with | 11 | | third-parties and fellow State agencies to make sure these | 12 | | same problems are avoided; yet, there remain unresolved | 13 | | issues; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The issue of identity theft is a very serious and | 15 | | damaging one that was identified by IDES; yet, there were | 16 | | additional issues identified with regards to unemployment | 17 | | insurance fraud; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The State has established an IDES Identity Theft | 19 | | Line, has entered into contracts with outside firms to | 20 | | investigate cases of fraud and identified theft, and continues | 21 | | to assist impacted individuals; there needs to be a greater | 22 | | effort made to protect workers and businesses from being |
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| 1 | | negatively impacted by this fraudulent activity; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, IDES is now faced with the task of helping those | 3 | | individuals and businesses that were, are, or will be affected | 4 | | by acts of identity theft and unemployment insurance fraud | 5 | | stemming from pandemic-related claims; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, In 2021, there continue to be reports of | 7 | | individuals having difficulty applying for and receiving | 8 | | unemployment insurance benefits, reports of rampant insurance | 9 | | fraud, and failures at the Department level to account for, | 10 | | flag, and otherwise contain cases of fraud in the unemployment | 11 | | insurance benefit systems; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The various issues that have plagued IDES must be | 13 | | completely identified, reviewed, and studied so as to | 14 | | understand where there is a need for accountability on the | 15 | | part of the Administration and for corrective measures to be | 16 | | taken; therefore, be it
| 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 18 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 19 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Auditor General is | 20 | | directed to conduct a performance audit of the Illinois | 21 | | Department of Employment Security's administration of the | 22 | | Unemployment Insurance Act; and be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Employment | 2 | | Security and any other State agency, entity, or person that | 3 | | may have information relevant to this audit cooperate fully | 4 | | and promptly with the Auditor General's office in its conduct; | 5 | | and be it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence this audit as | 7 | | soon as possible and, upon completion, distribute a report in | 8 | | accordance with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing | 9 | | Act.
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