This petition is for CONGRESS to Amend Rule 625 of title 20, in section 2102 of the Cares Act for Pandemic Unemployment assistance which is NOT allowing waiver of Overpayments of PUA - placing an undue burden on Americans in need.

AND

For Labor and Employment to honor Congress' Cares Act changes retroactively and waive overpayment of PUA due to system/clerical errors to Self Employed 1099 and gig workers who certified for Benefits during COVID-19   ;

These Section changes via Federal Codes insertion in Section 2102 of the Cares Act FAILED to allow waiver of overpayment.. THIS IS NOT FRAUD BY THE PEOPLE.

Congress MUST waive Section 2102 'non allowance of repayment waiver for PUA' based on section 625 of title 20 Code, and  MATCH Section 2104 regarding waiver of overpayment:

Section 2104 : Emergency increase in unemployment compensation benefits

(2)Repayment

In the case of individuals who have received amounts of Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation to which they were not entitled, the State shall require such individuals to repay the amounts of such Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation to the State agency, except that the State agency may waive such repayment if it determines that—

(A)the payment of such Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation was without fault on the part of any such individual; and
(B)such repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience.

Senate and Congress MUST waive the code that allows States to not allow waiver of overpayments for PUA. Many Thousands of Self Employed 1099 workers are being told to pay money to Unemployment that was paid as benefits due to clerical errors, and system errors. They CANNOT afford to.

The PUA system in Colorado and other States, has RESET many prior VERIFIED income requirements  told people in dire need to 'payback' what they accepted in GOOD FAITH  AND, benefits were slashed, many to the lowest level possible.

We TRUST you.

We trust in the systems put in place to protect us

We Trust in the PEOPLE that run these programs, to have our best interests in the forefront of all decision making

We Trust the state(s) and agencies to treat us without discrimination or bias.

In Spring of 2020, Thousands of Self Employed in every state of our Union,  filed for PUA assistance  when companies were forced to shut down and loss of income was and continues to be, significant.

In Summer of 2020 the Unemployment PUA systems across the country, including in Colorado - reset many of self employed original earnings records and reduced earned income to NET pay - and some to ZERO pay. Labor and Employment  then called the payments made for months NOT approved  and sent out - 'Overpayment' letters .... and are seeking to have this money people need to live returned, when self employed people lawfully filled out certifications and were approved, as required at that time BY the state(s). Congress and the Cares act said. 

THIS overpayment error should have the same remedy as PUC and FPUC  - but they do not have it in the Cares Act. They REMOVED that right.

This is not helping people, this is not protecting people. This is a HUGE burden.This is a NEW Covid 19 economic disaster for self employed. Do not wait until these people are homeless, cannot eat, and have NO BUSINESSES left, because this SYSTEM was in ERROR. As MANY other states are, WAIVE this overpayment that was caused by STATE systems, NOT fraud by the people.

REVERSE this hardship generated BY THE STATE Unemployment offices system computations from the beginning of this pandemic. 

On Colorado Congressman Jason Crows website it says :

Q: Are self-employed workers and workers in the gig economy eligible for unemployment compensation generally or the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefit specifically? 

A: Under the CARES Act, self-employed workers whose states make an agreement with the Department of Labor will receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance based on their recent earnings and will also be able to receive the $600 a week FPUC supplement on top of that benefit.

We are Mainstreet, we need to thrive... Not be crushed by this omission of protection by right to waiver. and state unemployment calculations errors.

Please, sign this petition for transparency and to WAIVE overpayments based on Clerical/System errors for PUA during Covid19. The People are NOT at fault. Self employed need help, small businesses support local and state and mainstreet economies and must have rights in this situation.

 

 

Ref :

Cares Act full text LINKs :

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3548/text

section(s) that change PAUA to DUA so no waiver is given 

"(h)Relationship between pandemic unemployment assistance and disaster unemployment assistance

Except as otherwise provided in this section or to the extent there is a conflict between this section and section 625 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, such section 625 shall apply to this section as if—

(1)the term COVID–19 public health emergency were substituted for the term major disaster each place it appears in such section 625; and
(2)the term pandemic were substituted for the term disaster each place it appears in such section 625."

Ref 2 : Code changing/removing right to Waiver for PUA (Calling it DUA) within Cares Act https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2012-title20-vol3/pdf/CFR-2012-title20-vol3-part625.pdf

Ref 3 : Part § 625.14 in the link above, does not allow them to give hardship overpayment waivers for PUA (DUA) during Covid-19.  This needs to be amended for Covid so waiver(s) can be implemented.