TREASURY OFFSET PROGRAM – BENEFIT OVERPAYMENT COLLECTIONS.

A. The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission shall be authorized to collect unemployment benefit overpayment indebtedness through the Tax Offset Program of the U.S. Department of the Treasury pursuant to 26 U.S.C., Section 6402(f) and 31 CFR, Section 285.8. The Commission may submit overpayment indebtedness due to fraud that was established pursuant to paragraph 1 of Section 2-613 of Title 40 of the Oklahoma Statutes and overpayment indebtedness due to claimant error that was established under paragraph 2 of Section 2-613 of Title 40 of the Oklahoma Statutes, if the claimant error overpayment was due to a failure to report earnings.

B. Before submitting an indebtedness to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for collection through the Tax Offset Program, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission shall notify the debtor in writing of the amount of the debt and the date the indebtedness was established. The notification shall give the debtor sixty (60) days from the date of mailing of the notice to present evidence to the Commission that all or a part of the indebtedness is not legally enforceable or is otherwise invalid.

C. If the debtor responds to the notice by presenting evidence, the Commission shall evaluate the evidence and review its records of the indebtedness. Based on this evaluation and review, the Commission may modify the amount of the indebtedness. Once the evaluation and review process is complete, the indebtedness shall be submitted to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for collection through the Tax Offset Program.

D. If no evidence is presented by the debtor within the sixty-day time period allowed by the notice, the amount of the indebtedness will be submitted to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for collection through the Tax Offset Program.

E. If the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission receives an erroneous payment from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission shall return the payment to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. If the money that was erroneously paid to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission had been credited to an unemployment benefit overpayment indebtedness, that indebtedness shall be reinstated to the amount that existed before the payment was credited.

Added by Laws 2015, c. 249, § 10, eff. Nov. 1, 2015.