State Rep. Jack O’Malley, of Lake Ann, today said recent audit findings related to personnel management at the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) during the COVID-19 pandemic raise additional questions while illuminating the need to shore up policy going forward.

O’Malley and the House Oversight Committee joined the Senate Oversight Committee for a hearing with UIA Director Julia Dale on Wednesday to discuss the independent audit. The audit revealed concerning issues involving hiring practices, access to sensitive information for former employees and software problems.

Around 45 percent of former UIA workers still had access to the state’s network and the Michigan Integrated Data Automated System to make unauthorized changes to claims for over a month after their departure. One former worker was found to have committed $3.8 million in fraud in 2020. UIA also did not ensure preemployment criminal history background checks. The Auditor General found over 70 workers still employed with past convictions for crimes such as embezzlement, identity theft and armed robbery.

“I believe Director Dale is doing the best she can to shore up these processes and ensure the agency is effective and efficient going forward,” O’Malley said. “It puzzles me to see all of these mistakes – in many cases blatant mistakes – within these audits and realize no one was fired as corners were being cut and incompetence seemingly knew no end. One director got out with a large separation agreement and another was moved to a different department. That doesn’t deliver accountability to the people we represent as elected officials. It’s merely people in government covering for other people in government.

“As we move forward, I wholly support doing all we can to get answers for people who have come to us with questions about UIA’s effectiveness – and I will be actively engaged in that process. They expect and deserve an agency that’s going to work in the future as opposed to one that’s going to be right back in hot water.”

Dale also explained to the committee the agency’s upcoming procedure for overpayment waivers. In the wake of many people who were authorized by the state to receive unemployment under expanded federal rules during the pandemic later being declared ineligible, O’Malley has called on UIA to issue letters to people who don’t owe anything back to the state for additional peace of mind. The second-term legislator has spoken with many people who are unsure over whether they are really off the hook or not despite communications over the phone with individuals at the agency.

“This is a big step for those seeking clarity and we desperately needed it,” said O’Malley, noting waiver notifications will begin appearing in MiWAM accounts for over 95 percent of those eligible and will eventually arrive in the coming weeks in the form of a letter. “This has been a big issue for many people in northern Michigan since this was bungled by the state. It has led to a lot of confusion – and having something in hand is going to provide concise and binding assurances.”