House Bill 720

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS THAT THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY MUST MEET RELATED TO ITS ACTIVITIES CONCERNING FRAUD PREVENTION, DETECTION AND RECOVERY; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO FOCUS UPON THE PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF FRAUD WITH RESPECT TO THE PAYMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS AND THE COLLECTION OF TAX CONTRIBUTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This section describes the minimum requirements that the Mississippi Department of Employment Security must meet related to its activities concerning fraud prevention, detection and recovery.

(1) The Mississippi Department of Employment Security ("department") shall focus upon the prevention and detection of fraud with respect to the payment of unemployment insurance benefits and the collection of tax contributions. In furtherance of these goals, the department shall take the following steps to enhance its recovery efforts:

(a) The executive director of the department shall adopt and implement internal administrative policies, business processes and regulations as necessary to:

(i) Pursue recovery of improper overpayments of unemployment benefits to the extent permitted by state and federal law;

(ii) Require all employers to promptly notify the department within ten (10) business days of an individual's refusal of an offer of suitable work;

(iii) Authorize the department to use all available technological resources, including the Integrity Data Hub and the National Directory of New Hires, or any other sources, to verify newly hired and re-hired employees reported under state and federal law, in a manner which shall facilitate the reduction of fraudulent unemployment insurance applications;

(iv) Authorize the department to use any available technological resources to verify by cross-match, or any other current method, any and all claims associated with potentially fraudulent applications or overpayments reported under state and federal law;

(v) Create a regulation governing the frequency that new hire and incarceration verification is checked; and

(vi) Authorize the department to require employers to promptly respond to all cross-match wage requests.

(2) To further the department's efforts in the area of fraud prevention, detection, and recovery of fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits:

(a) The department shall be authorized to take all enforcement and administrative steps appropriate to ensure claimants who refuse offers of suitable work do not receive undue unemployment benefits and are referred to the appropriate office for internal investigation;

(b) All state agencies, political subdivisions, including, but not limited to, any and all state law enforcement entities, shall promptly respond to all requests for information from the department for the prevention and detection of fraud and the recovery of fraudulently paid benefits or improperly withheld unemployment insurance tax contributions. No state political subdivision may impede or delay any fraud prevention, detection or recovery efforts of the department; and

(c) All state agencies, departments, divisions, boards and other political subdivisions shall be required to share data for the prevention and detection of fraud and the recovery of fraudulent paid benefits or improperly withheld unemployment insurance tax contributions with the department to enable the detection and prevention of unemployment insurance fraud. The department shall have the authority to execute a memorandum of understanding with any state agency, department, division, board or other political subdivision for information required to be shared between agencies for the purposes outlined in this section. (3) The department shall be authorized to promulgate any and all necessary rules and regulations, at the discretion of the executive director or his or her designee, to implement the provisions of this section in keeping with its mission of fraud prevention, detection, and recovery, in accordance with Section 71-5-117.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after January 1, 2023.