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Missouri to require return of overpaid jobless benefits

Missouri residents mistakenly paid unemployment benefits will likely be required to pay that money back to the state, according to Gov. Mike Parson. The state is said to have overpaid around $96 million in benefits, an error produced by a surge of applications and fraud.

Missouri residents mistakenly paid unemployment benefits by the state could be required to pay that money back.

Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday.

The Missouri Department of Labor said the state has overpaid roughly $96 million in unemployment benefits between January 2020 and September 2020, according to a report by St. Louis Public Radio.

Errors were driven by a surge of unemployment applications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as federal emergency programs that extended benefits to workers who were previously ineligible.

Parson was asked about the situation during a Q&A as part of the annual Missouri Press Association Day at the Capitol. He said anyone who received unemployment payments in error should “most certainly” be required to return them.

“Some people did try to defraud the system. We know that. To give them a free pass when they intentionally did that is one thing,” Parson said. “For the people who just made a mistake, you know, it’s just life in general. If you got more money than you should, you should have an obligation to pay it back. Because you’re taking it away from someone else. I know it’s easy to say it’s government money, but the reality is it needs to go somewhere else that needs it.”

Parson said during the Thursday morning Q&A that it’s important to get that money back. “If you fraudulently abused the system, you should be accountable for that,” he said. “If you made a mistake and got paid too much, you should pay it back.”