February 3, 2026
“Aimlessly and unnecessarily dispersing nearly $1 billion would be a fraudster’s paradise. We need to continue focusing on fiscal responsibility and protecting hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”
WASHINGTON – Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) today introduced the Clawing back Lapsed Obligations from State Emergency programs (CLOSE) Act. This bill would cancel the unspent tax dollars assigned during the COVID-19 pandemic for emergency unemployment payments and terminate the program.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is an original co-sponsor of the bill. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) introduced the companion bill to the CLOSE Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Ohio’s private sector completely recovered all the jobs that were lost during the COVID-19 pandemic in just two years, and jobs have only continued to grow since then. Aimlessly and unnecessarily dispersing nearly $1 billion would be a fraudster’s paradise. We need to continue focusing on fiscal responsibility and protecting hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” said Husted.
“In 2020, Congress acted quickly to help Americans who lost their jobs, but trying to distribute these funds seven years later is not relief, it’s an invitation for fraud. The CLOSE Act protects taxpayers, closes the door on waste and abuse, and brings a responsible end to emergency programs that have already served their purpose,” said Miller.
In 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act established emergency unemployment assistance programs to help Americans who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ohio was one of 24 states to withhold the further distribution of these funds because state officials found they were discouraging people from returning to the labor force. Husted was an early voice in calling for the end of the CARES Act when he was Lt. Governor of Ohio.
Today, the funding for these programs have not been rescinded despite the COVID emergency coming to an end. However, seven years after the start of the pandemic, many of the individuals who applied for emergency aid have moved to other states, died or provided inaccurate information. This makes dispersing funds under the CARES Act not only fiscally irresponsible but opens the door to large-scale fraud.
The programs affected by the CLOSE Act include Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
Full text of the bill is available here.