Fiscal Fallout: California interest on fraudulent COVID benefits rapidly growing

(The Center Square) – Since California Gov. Gavin Newsom took office in 2019, state debt payments on unemployment benefits have gone from zero to nearly $600 million this year, and could soon result in annual payroll tax increases of nearly $500 per employee, according to an analysis by The Center Square.

These payments to the federal government will soon reach $1 billion per year to pay back $20 billion California borrowed to help cover what the state says was $55 billion in “ineligible” or fraudulent COVID-era unemployment insurance benefits claims, state records show.