Updated Jan. 29 with comments from Missouri Gov. Mike Parson:
Gov. Mike Parson said Missourians who were mistakenly paid unemployment benefits should be required to repay that money, Thursday.
鈥淪ome people did try to defraud the system. We know that. To give them a free pass when they intentionally did that is one thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or the people who just made a mistake, you know, it鈥檚 just life in general. If you got more money than you should, you should have an obligation to pay it back. Because you鈥檙e taking it away from someone else. I know it鈥檚 easy to say it鈥檚 government money, but the reality is it needs to go somewhere else that needs it.鈥�
Parson made those comments when asked about the issue during a Q&A portion of the annual Missouri Press Association Day at the Capitol.
Original story from Jan. 22:
Ballwin resident Larissa White panicked when she started getting letters from the Missouri Department of Labor in early June.
The state wanted her to pay back more than $8,000 in unemployment benefits.
White, an actor, said she hesitantly applied for the benefits after her theater gigs and on-camera work dried up in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
鈥淚 feel as if I should have never have applied in the first place,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his almost feels as if this has been more trouble than it鈥檚 worth, except for the fact that it did help me pay my bills.鈥�
After initially approving her application, White said the state later told her she didn鈥檛 qualify because she 鈥渧oluntarily鈥� left her theater job. But White said she didn鈥檛 quit, the job just ended 鈥� a normal occurrence in the industry.
White is one of an unknown number of Missourians who have received letters from the Missouri Department of Labor demanding repayment of unemployment benefits.
A spokeswoman for the department, Dee Rose, said in an email Thursday evening that the department has determined it overpaid about $96 million between January and September 2020, or about 2% of all the benefits paid out. She did not specify how many letters the department has sent to people.
She said the state is reviewing federal guidance on the matter but that state statute requires people to pay back overpayments of state unemployment benefits.
鈥淲e have an obligation to the businesses and the taxpayers that pay for unemployment benefits to prevent fraud and waste and to ensure that benefits are available to those who are eligible for them,鈥� she said.
Missouri Sen. Brian Williams, D-University City, said he鈥檚 working with the department to figure out why it鈥檚 trying to get the money back.
鈥淣o one knows why,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t appears that the department made a mistake with some of these benefits, and it鈥檚 clear to me 鈥� and I would hope everyone 鈥� that unemployed Missourians should not have to pay the government for its mistakes.鈥�
Williams said he鈥檚 helped 鈥渜uite a few constituents鈥� so far with the issue, including a single mom in Bridgeton.
The latest round of pandemic relief passed by Congress in December includes a provision allowing states to , stating 鈥渃ollection must not be against equity or good conscience.鈥� But Missouri has not yet decided to implement the waivers.
Williams said the money Missouri is trying to recoup has already been spent on groceries, gas and other bills.
鈥淚'll be holding the Department of Labor accountable, and making sure that folks in my district and beyond aren't forced to pay back money during these challenging times,鈥� he said.
Filing appeals
The St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts is offering pro bono help to White and about a dozen other freelance artists appealing the state鈥檚 repayment demands.
White sent in her appeal this summer, but due to a backlog her hearing isn鈥檛 until next week. She鈥檚 hopeful it will clear things up. 鈥淚f not, I don't know what I'm going to do,鈥� she said.
VLAA Executive Director Sue Greenberg said the problem likely stems from the fact that the Department of Labor was 鈥渙verwhelmed and ill-equipped鈥� to handle the influx of unemployment claims from nontraditional workers.
Before the pandemic, freelancers and gig workers didn鈥檛 qualify for unemployment benefits. But that changed when Congress passed the CARES Act in March, providing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance of up to $600 a week to self-employed and gig workers.
Greenberg said the state should focus on bigger pandemic problems.
鈥淕oing after their own citizens to ask for money the people don鈥檛 have when they have been directed by the federal government to let it go isn't a good use of anybody鈥檚 energy,鈥� Greenberg said.
Jim Guest is the director of the volunteer lawyers program at the nonprofit Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. He鈥檚 working with about 100 people who have received letters from the state.
鈥淣o one was getting rich on this,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople have used these funds to survive, put food on the table, pay rent, pay car payments, pay health insurance, pay health costs. So most of the funds, I think, have been spent on what they were designed to be spent for.鈥�
Guest said the state letters include language indicating if people don鈥檛 pay back the money, the state can garnish their wages when they start a new job.
鈥淚t can be really frightening to people who have done everything they can and now have a new job and are going to get money taken out of them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to stress this is through no fault of their own; they did not do anything wrong.鈥�
Ben Wheeler, an Olivette resident, is worried that will happen to him. He received three letters last week, which said he needs to pay back about $8,000.
鈥淚t鈥檚 beyond gone,鈥� Wheeler said of the unemployment money he collected last year after losing most of his income.
Wheeler is a jazz musician and an adjunct professor at Webster University. He also provides for three kids at home. He plans to appeal the repayment with the help of the VLAA.
鈥淧aying isn鈥檛 an option,鈥� he said.
Jaclyn Driscoll contributed to this story.
Follow Corinne on Twitter: @corinnesusan
Follow Jaclyn on Twitter: @DriscollNPR
