No More ‘Freebies’ For ‘Fat Cats’: GOP Senator Wants Millionaires Off Welfare

Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst introduced a bill aimed at preventing millionaires from collecting unemployment benefits — a problem that had become widespread during the presidency of Joe Biden.

The Ending Unemployment Payments to Jobless Millionaires Act would require state unemployment agencies to cross-check all available income data before approving benefit payments, according to the bill’s text. The Department of Labor would be allowed to double-check the state approvals to ensure they were verifying applicants thoroughly.

“Able-bodied millionaires shouldn’t expect handouts paid for by overtaxed and overworked Americans,” Senator Ernst said in a statement accompanying the bill. “The freebies for free-loading fat cats are over.”

Thousands of millionaires have received unemployment assistance in recent years despite not needing financial support, according to a memo researchers sent to Ernst. During the years of 2021 and 2022 combined, more than 20,000 individuals with incomes exceeding $1 million received unemployment benefits — totaling over $270 million. On average, each received more than $10,000.

Unemployment Insurance — the federal-state program designed to support workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own — is funded by employer payroll taxes and administered by individual states under federal guidelines. A Labor Department rule prohibits states from denying benefits solely based on income, the memo indicated. As a result, millionaires and other wealthy individuals are able to receive benefits intended for truly needy people.