PA Overpaid Unemployment Compensation

Pennsylvania Overpaid $374 Million for Unemployment Compensation in 2009
Fraudulent claims account for $227 million, U.S. Dept. of Labor says

AUGUST 31, 2010 | by ERIC BOEHM

More Pennsylvanians are out of work today than at any time in the last twenty years, but some people struggling with unemployment have received more in benefits than they should.

In 2009, Pennsylvania paid out more in unemployment benefits than all but two other states and had one of the ten highest unemployment insurance fraud rates in the nation, according to statistics released by the federal Department of Labor this month. The report was produced by the Labor Department’s Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) program, which determines the accuracy of paid and denied claims in the state-provided Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs. Click here to read more.

Civil Asset Forfeiture Stays on Legislative Backburner
No comment from gubernatorial candidates on millions seized

AUGUST 27, 2010 | by DARWYYN DEYO

Pennsylvania’s civil asset forfeiture laws continue to fly under the radar, despite a poor grade from a Washington, D.C.-based civil liberties law firm. No attempt at reform is pending in the legislature, and neither candidate for governor seems to rate it as a hot issue.

Civil asset forfeiture is the practice whereby police seize private property if they have probable cause it was involved in a crime, despite the owner not being charged. The practice cost Pennsylvanians $20.2 million between 2000-2002, according to the Institute for Justice (IJ), a civil liberties law firm based in Washington, D.C. With little oversight and transparency, property from homes to large amounts of cash can be taken by law enforcement and tried as a civil matter, eliminating the "innocent until proven guilty" tenet of criminal law. Click here to read more.

Onorato’s Office Looking Into Edinboro Student Death
State Open Records Office says university and police records are off limits

AUGUST 27, 2010 | by JIM PANYARD
The office of Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato has asked a member of the county Medical Examiner’s Office to look into the death of county resident and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (EUP) student Kieran McHugh in September 2008.

As previously reported in the PA Independent, Mr. McHugh was found hanging from his dormitory room window in the early morning on Sept. 14, 2008.
The school and Erie County Medical Examiner Lyell Cook say the death was a suicide, but the school and its campus police have refused to release any information or discuss the investigation of the case. Mr. McHugh, 18 at the time of his death, was a freshman at the school. Click here to read more.
All Stories

Letter Reveals Sestak Knew of Non-Profit’s For-Profit Connection | September 2, 2010

AG Wants ‘Unusual’ Combined Trial For DeWeese, Stetler | September 2, 2010
Private Campus Police Forces Want Upgrade | September 1, 2010
Governor Announces 40 New Green Energy Projects | September 1, 2010
Income, Sales, Gasoline Taxes Off The Table For Onorato | September 1, 2010
Independent Candidate Challenges Commonwealth Court on Ballot Access Ruling | August 31, 2010
House Legislation Would Add Text Ads to Do Not Call List | August 31, 2010
Pennsylvania Overpaid $374 Million for Unemployment Compensation in 2009 | August 31, 2010
New Report Shows State Lagging in Economic Freedom | August 30, 2010
More Earmark-Induced Controversy Hits Sestak | August 30, 2010
PA Taxpayers Give General Electric Half A Million Dollars | August 30, 2010
Onorato’s Office Looking Into Edinboro Student Death | August 27, 2010
Civil Asset Forfeiture Stays on Legislative Backburner | August 27, 2010
Consultant Who Wrote PA Gambling "Blueprint" Testifies To Grand Jury | August 27, 2010
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