Ohioans Paying the Price for Mike DeWine’s Unemployment Scandal
May 28, 2021
Columbus, OH — The Mike DeWine administration is charging Ohioans for an ongoing state scandal as corruption at DeWine’s statehouse continues to hurt Ohio families directly. After it was uncovered that the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services hid massive amounts of unemployment fraud and overpayments, the state of Ohio is currently demanding Ohioans pay back overpayments made because of mistakes made by the state.
For example, WEWS Cleveland reports this week that Ohioan Brandy Hunt is being charged $7,000 because of the scandal. “This money is life and death,” Hunt said. “It’s not fair and it’s not right.”
“Once again, Ohioans are left footing the bill for corruption scandals tied to Mike DeWine. Ohioans shouldn’t be punished for ongoing incompetence and corruption in DeWine’s administration. Mike DeWine has the power to waive these unfair penalties — he should do so now and then explain why this scandal was hidden from the public for so long,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.
While Democratic lawmaker Jeffrey Crossman (D-Parma) has introduced legislation to waive these unemployment penalties, the Republican-controlled legislature has not taken action since the bill was introduced in March.
The unemployment scandal is just the latest in a long line of scandals connected to Mike DeWine that Ohioans are paying the price for. Ohio Democrats introduced legislation earlier this week to expel Larry Householder, the alleged ringleader of a $60 million bribery scheme to raise the cost of Ohioans’ energy bills. Ohioans continue to pay for both the bribery scheme and Larry Householder’s salary, while Mike DeWine looks the other way.