East Central Reporter

State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) has called out Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) on unemployment fraud in the state and the amount of money lost because of it. 

Plummer took to social media where he said he believes three big topics impacting the state – unemployment fraud, the unemployment trust fund funding gap, and the release of violent criminals – aren't getting the coverage they deserve.

"If I were an enterprising reporter in Illinois, I'd be all over three of the most under-reported stories affecting our state (that most Illinoisans are completely unaware of)," Plummer wrote in a Jan. 31 Facebook post.

Plummer shared a story published by the Center Square which noted that while other states have published their figures on unemployment fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pritzker has yet to release the information. The Illinois Department of Employment Security claimed to have stopped 1.7 million fraudulent unemployment claims early last year, according to the Center Square.

Regarding "The unemployment fraud that hit our state because of the failures of Governor JB Pritzker's thin-skinned feckless administration," Plummer wrote in his post, "Did we lose $$$Billions or 'merely' $$$Hundreds of millions?"

A July Illinois Auditor General report showed the state made almost $155 million worth of improper unemployment payments in the first few weeks of the pandemic beginning in March of 2020, the Center Square reported.

"The giant hole in our unemployment trust fund. This is going to hit labor unions and businesses hard," Plummer wrote. "We're worse than any state, why are we ignoring this and not using federal funds to plug the massive gap?"

According to CBS Chicago, the state still couldn't answer why victims of unemployment fraud continued to have open accounts in their names as of mid-December.

Plummer said he'd also like to see more coverage surrounding the release of violent criminals back into society under Pritzker's administration.