Cooper Introduces Taxpayer Recovery Act
Bill aims to recover $20 Billion in fraudulent EDD claims
January 12, 2022
SACRAMENTO — Today, Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) introduced Assembly Bill 1637 — Taxpayer Recovery Act. The bill will assist California recover fraudulently obtained COVID-19 unemployment insurance (UI) payments from individuals convicted of UI fraud.
“I want our $20 billion back,” said Assemblymember Jim Cooper. “I'm angry and every Californian should be. Criminals used a devastating pandemic to steal $30 billion from our pockets while millions of unemployed Californians desperately needed their unemployment benefits,” added Cooper.
Dubbed by prosecutors and media outlets as the biggest criminal fraud in United States history, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) estimates that it paid as much as $20 - $30 billion in fraudulent COVID-19 related UI claims. For context, $20 billion is the equivalent of paying more than 333,300 California schoolteachers at an annual salary of $60,000 for three years. $20 billion could shelter California's estimated 160,000 homeless individuals in a hotel room for more than three years.
AB 1637 authorizes California authorities the use of asset forfeiture to recover cash as well as goods that were obtained by criminals via unlawful fraudulent UI claims.
The Taxpayer Recovery Act contains an urgency clause. The will be heard by the Legislature in the coming months.