HARRISBURG – Senator David G. Argall (R-Schuylkill/Berks) and Representative Jerry Knowles (R-Berks/Carbon/Schuylkill) voiced their support of Auditor General Eugene DePasquale’s announcement that he would review the Unemployment Compensation Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund, also known as SIIF.
In November, the local lawmakers sent a letter to DePasquale urging him to investigate how the funding that was provided through temporary legislative authorization was spent over the last four years.
A 2013 law allowed for a temporary four-year transfer of unemployment compensation funds to the SIIF as a result of reduced federal funds to pay for call center employees.
“We applaud General DePasquale for looking into this matter to get us answers as to how the Department of Labor and Industry spent $178 million over the last few years,” Argall said. “I’m hopeful this audit will provide legislators and the governor with a path forward to find the most efficient and effective use of government resources.”
“I want to thank the auditor general for moving forward with the audit,” Knowles said. “My interest in the audit was related to people who were close to the department who thought improvements could be made that could generate savings to the taxpayers.”