Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 28, 2023
Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Recoupment Act
This bill extends the time period when a state must recover improperly paid pandemic unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and bring related criminal charges or enforcement actions to 10 years.
The bill also adds certain recovery requirements to two pandemic UI programs—Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Lost Wages Assistance (LWA)—that match the requirements of other pandemic UI programs. Specifically, the state must (1) repay itself by deducting the PUA or LWA funds from any UI benefits a recipient may later qualify to receive; and (2) ensure the recipient is provided with notice, a hearing, and a final determination.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.1018 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.1018 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.1018 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.1018 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.