THE House minority bloc on Wednesday heard various concerns from people who said they are experiencing problems with their Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications.
Members of the House minority bloc listen to a community member during a town hall at the multi-purpose center on Wednesday.
Department of Labor Secretary Vicky I. Benavente and Department of Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig were invited to the meeting, which started at 5 p.m. and was held at the multi-purpose center.
Atalig said he had a prior commitment, but as he has already mentioned many times in virtual press conferences, Finance has nothing to do with how Labor processes or adjudicate PUA claims.
“We are only a pass-thru to those that have been processed and approved for payment,” he said. “We process the list of claimants we get from the Geo Solution software and process direct deposits and paper checks.”
He said direct deposits are reviewed before transferring funds.
As for paper checks, he said, Finance prints what the system generates and Labor reviews the checks prior to release for any over-payments, fraud, or the like.
Disappointed
Anthony Duenas of San Antonio said he and his wife came to the town hall meeting hoping to hear from the Labor secretary herself. He said they applied for PUA in August, but have not received a single penny yet.
Many of those who came to the meeting expressed similar complaints. Some said they were already notified by Labor that they were approved, but have yet to receive assistance.
Some said some individuals who have an employment authorization document or EADs received PUA while others were denied.
Assistance
House Minority Leader Tina Sablan said the minority bloc’s office has been assisting individuals in following up on their PUA applications with Labor.
She said these applicants are having trouble getting through — no one is answering their phone calls and emails. Some can no longer go to the Labor office to follow up on their applications.
“So we have been collecting consent forms to get people’s authorizations, and our office has also been following up with Labor, but we are also having issues getting through on the phone and getting any response on the email. We can understand the frustrations that the constituents are expressing,” Sablan said.
She said the minority bloc wanted to provide a forum for constituents so they could air their grievances and raise questions.
“And we want to document all of that,” she added. “The kind of feedback that we heard… warrant an oversight hearing. We should call in Labor and Finance formally and ask them all of these questions.”
She added, “It does seem that there should be some kind of audit to be done with the [PUA] program.”
U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, who also attended the meeting, said he will seek the assistance of the inspector general in reviewing the implementation of the CNMI program.
Unfortunate
In a statement, Labor Secretary Vicky I. Benavente said, as relayed to Rep. Tina Sablan when the invitation to her PUA public forum was received, the department “declined in order to prioritize the workload and processing of PUA claims. It is unfortunate that she did not publicly disclose that communication and chose to politically grandstand with her colleagues even after being educated about the PUA adjudication process as standardized by the US Department of Labor, as it is after all, a federal program.”
According to Benavente, “We understand that PUA claimants may want answers about their claims and issues they face. Many of the general questions, such as reasons for disqualification and reporting requirements, can be answered by the Benefit Rights Handbook published on the department’s website, marianaslabor.net. However, in light of confidentiality restrictions, it would be imprudent and insensitive of the CNMI Department of Labor to disclose information on specific or pending claims in a public forum.”
“We hear and empathize with our claimants’ frustration in the complexity of this federal program and federal guidance,” Benavente said. “In order to ensure the integrity of the program, the future of continued federal support, and the prevention of CNMI liability on fraudulent claims, the Department of Labor must operate within the confines of the applicable federal law and institute safety measures to prevent fraudulent claims.”
She said as of Dec. 2, 2020, the Benefits Payment Control or BPC Unit had established over 720 cases worth over $6.3 million.
Of the 720 overpayment cases, 240 cases have been identified by the BPC Unit as out of state/territory cases, she added.
“Approximately $2,444,355.31 million in fraudulent claims have been intercepted by the BPC Unit. Since its inception, the BPC Unit has successfully collected $1,944,187.47 in PUA and $2,393,325.95 in FPUC benefits, totaling $4,337,513.42,” Benavente said.
“The department recognizes that these fraudulent claims have caused significant delays. The department is working around-the-clock to adjudicate claims and process payments to all eligible claimants. However, we remind the public that if a claim does not provide proper justification of unemployment due to the pandemic, refusal to submit required documents, or declared incorrect earnings, then that claim is deemed fraudulent under the PUA federal guidelines and USDOL standards.
“As a point of clarification to misleading information that was shared earlier, the department has received 36,602 claims through the HireMarianas.com portal, but 17,931 of these claims are from the U.S. mainland and Hawaii and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the CNMI PUA program. The official number of PUA claims in the CNMI is 18,671, and approximately 72% of claims have been adjudicated.
“We look forward to reviewing public comments from the hearing and hope that our elected officials can work diligently with our department on educating the public about how these federal guidelines work when running a complex program such as PUA.”
