TOPIC: Access to Unemployment Insurance Claim Information
OFFICE: Auditor
STATE: IL
DATE: 09/26/2014
QUESTION / ISSUE: The Office of the Auditor General is part of the legislative branch in Illinois. The
OAG would like to know about access by other legislative branch state auditors to unemployment
insurance claim records.
If you are a state auditor in the legislative branch, please tell us the following:
1. Do you access unemployment insurance information for audit purposes?
2. Has your UI agency questioned your authority to access unemployment insurance information?
3. Is your state auditor an elected or an appointed official?
4. If you have a statutory citation (federal or state) supporting your authority to access UI claim
information, please provide it.
State
Alaska
Connecticut
Comments
1. Yes
2. No
3. Appointed
4. AS 24.20.271(7)
1. Yes.
2. No
3. Appointed.
4. There is no specific statutory citation related to our access to UI claim
information. Section 2-90 of the General Statutes gives the Auditors of Public
Accounts access to confidential records maintained by state agencies. Please
see attached.
Section 2-90.pdf
Georgia
The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts has access to unemployment
insurance information for audit purposes. Our Department’s authority to access
such information is provided primarily in the following two statutory paragraphs:
Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) 50-6-7
“All officers, agents, employees, departments, institutions, commissions,
authorities, and bureaus of the state shall produce and turn over to the state
auditor or his or her assistants for examination and audit, whenever demanded
by the state auditor, all of their books, records, accounts, vouchers, warrants,
bills, and other papers dealing with or reflecting upon the financial transactions
and management of such department, institution, agency, commission,
authority, bureau, or office, including any and all cash on hand, but not
including cash in banks, the amount of cash in banks to be ascertained by
certificate furnished to the state auditor by the bank.”
OCGA 50-6-29
“For the purpose of more completely discharging the duties resting upon him or
her and to discover the truth and to make his or her reports truthful in all
matters handled by him or her, the state auditor is empowered to conduct
hearings, to summon witnesses, to administer oaths, to take the testimony of
such witnesses, and to compel the production, inspection, and copying of
documentary evidence, including without limitation evidence in electronic form
and documentary evidence that is confidential or not available to the general
public, at such time and place as he or she may designate for the purpose of
investigating and determining the conduct and record of the employees and
Access to Unemployment Insurance Claim Information 1
State
Comments
officials of any department of the state government. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the state auditor shall have access to inspect, compel
production of, and copy confidential information in any form unless the law
making such information confidential expressly refers to this Code section and
qualifies or supersedes it in that particular instance…”
The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts has been requesting and
receiving unemployment insurance information for many years. Our Department’s
authority to obtain unemployment insurance information without limitation is well
recognized and the Georgia Department of Labor has not recently questioned our
Department’s authority to access such information.
Louisiana
The State Auditor of Georgia is elected by the General Assembly in accordance
with OCGA 50-6-1.
1. Yes, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s (LLA) office accesses unemployment
insurance information for audit purposes.
2. No, to our knowledge, Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) has not
questioned our authority to access unemployment insurance information.
3. Per the Louisiana Constitution, Article III, Section 11, the legislative auditor is
elected by the concurrence of a majority of the elected members of each house
and may be removed by the concurrence of two-thirds of the elected members
of each house.
4. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor accesses UI claims information under the
following statutory authority:
 Louisiana Revised Statute (LRS) 24:513(A)(1)(a) states ...the Legislative
Auditor shall have access to and be permitted to examine all papers,
books, accounts, records, files, instruments, documents, films, tapes, and
any other forms of recordation of all auditees, including but not limited to
computers and recording devices, and all software and hardware which
hold data, is part of the technical processes leading up to the retention of
data, or is part of the security system. See Attachment 1 (LRS 24:513)
 20 CFR 603.2(d) defines a public official as an elected official in the federal,
State, or local government. 20 CFR 603.5(e) states disclosure of
confidential UC information to a public official for use in the performance of
his or her official duties is permissible. "performance of official duties"
means administration or enforcement of law or the execution of the official
responsibilities of a Federal, State, or local elected official. In addition, 20
CFR 603.5(f) states, disclosure of confidential UC information to an agent
or contractor of a public official to whom disclosure is permissible under
paragraph (e) of this section is also permissible. Note: Confidential UC
information is defined in paragraphs 603.2(b) and (j) and is required to be
kept confidential under 20 CFR 603.4. See Attachment 2 (excerpts from
20 CFR 603):
 20 CFR 603.9(a) states for disclosures of confidential UC information under
603.5(e) and (f), a State or State UC agency must require the recipient to
safeguard the information disclosed against unauthorized access or
redisclosure. In accordance with 20 CFR 603.9(b), the State or State UC
agency must enter into a written, enforceable agreement with any agency
or entity requiring disclosures of such information in accordance with 20
CFR 603.10. When disclosures are provided under 603.5(f), the agreement
must hold the public official responsible for ensuring that the agent or
contractor complies with the safeguards of 603.9. The agreement must be
terminable if the State or State UC agency determines that the safeguards
in the agreement are not adhered to.
Access to Unemployment Insurance Claim Information 2
State
Comments
The LLA and LWC executed a "Data Sharing Agreement" which enables LWC
to share with LLA confidential information (i.e., wage information) obtained
through its administration of Louisiana's unemployment compensation system
to assist the LLA in performing its official duties. The terms and conditions of
the data sharing agreement include the data and method of sharing, use of
shared data, confidentiality safeguards pursuant to 20 CFR 603, and civil and
criminal penalties imposed by LRS 23:1660. See Attachment 3 and
Attachment 2
LA Attachment
1.pdf
Maine
1.
2.
3.
4.
LA Attachment
2.pdf
LA Attachment
3.pdf
Yes
No
Elected by the legislature
Nothing specific to UI in State statute. Our authority is 5 MRSA Section 243 as
follows:
Title 5: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND SERVICES
Part 1: STATE DEPARTMENTS
Chapter 11: OFFICE OF THE STATE AUDITOR
§243. Powers and duties
The Office of the State Auditor has authority: [2013, c. 16, §3 (AMD).]
Maryland
1. Audit. To audit all accounts and other financial records of State Government
or any department or agency of State Government, including the judiciary and the
Executive Department of the Governor, except the Governor's Expense Account, and
to report annually on this audit, and at such other times as the Legislature may
require.
1. Yes, we have full access to unemployment insurance information during our
audit of DLLR - Division of Unemployment Insurance (DUI), see
http://www.ola.state.md.us/Reports/Fiscal%20Compliance/DLLR-DUI12.pdf.
We also have obtained state wage withholding records from DUI for use on
other audits; for example, see finding 1 from
http://www.ola.state.md.us/Reports/Fiscal%20Compliance/CSEA11.pdf.
2. I do not believe so.
3. Appointed.
4. The law governing our Office allows us to access State agency records in
general, so unemployment insurance records are included. See below from the
Annotated Code of Maryland.
State Government
Title 2. General Assembly
Subtitle 12. Staff and Services—Department of Legislative Services
Part IV. Office of Legislative Audits
MD. State Government Code Ann. § 2-1223 (2014)
§ 2-1223 Audit procedures
(a) Access to records. –
Access to Unemployment Insurance Claim Information 3
State
Michigan
Comments
(1) Except as prohibited by the federal Internal Revenue Code, during an
examination, the employees or authorized representatives of the Office of
Legislative Audits shall have access to and may inspect the records, including
those that are confidential by law, of any unit of the State government or of a
person or other body receiving State funds, with respect to any matter under the
jurisdiction of the Office of Legislative Audits.
(2) In conjunction with an examination authorized under this subtitle, the access
required by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall include the records of contractors
and subcontractors that perform work under State contracts.
(3) The employees or authorized representatives of the Office of Legislative Audits
shall have access to and may inspect the records, including those that are
confidential by law, of:
(i) any local school system to perform the audits authorized under§ 2-1220 of this
subtitle or in accordance with a request for information as provided in§ 5-114(d) of
the Education Article; and
(ii) the Board of Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore City to perform the
audits authorized under§ 2-1220(f) of this subtitle.
(b) Provision of information. -- Each officer or employee of the unit or body that is
subject to examination shall provide any information that the Legislative Auditor
determines to be needed for the examination of that unit or body, or of any matter
under the authority of the Office of Legislative Audits, including information that
otherwise would be confidential under any provision of law.
(c) Enforcement. –
(1) The Legislative Auditor may issue process that requires an official who is
subject to examination to produce a record that is needed for the examination.
(2) The process shall be sent to the sheriff for the county where the official is
located.
(3) The sheriff promptly shall serve the process.
(4) The State shall pay the cost of process.
(5) If a person fails to comply with process issued under this subsection or fails to
provide information that is requested during an examination, a circuit court may
issue an order directing compliance with the process or compelling that the
information requested be provided.
HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 40, §§ 61B, 61C; 1984, ch. 284, § 1; 1992, ch. 598;
1997, ch. 635, § 2; ch. 636, § 2; 2006, ch. 512; 2009, ch. 60, § 5; 2011, ch. 263.
1. The Michigan Office of the Auditor General has access to unemployment
insurance information for audit purposes.
2. Please see the attached data sharing agreement example between the
Michigan OAG and our UIA.
3. Our state auditor is appointed.
4. Please see the attached data sharing agreement.
UIA Data
Agreement.docx
Minnesota
1. Yes, audit team members are provided full access to Minnesota’s
Unemployment Insurance (UI) system and all of its underlying applicant data
(identification, claims, wage detail, work history, correspondence, etc.) and
employer data (rates, quarterly wage data, correspondence, penalties, etc.).
We have used the UI system data to support our work on the State of
Minnesota CAFR and to fulfill the federal A-133 Single audit requirements for
the UI program.
Access to Unemployment Insurance Claim Information 4
State
Comments
2. No, the state agency administering the UI program (State of Minnesota – Dept.
of Employment and Economic Development) is aware of our legal authority and
has provided us with full access to the UI data. We are provided access with
the legal obligation to protect its classification as ‘not public’ data.
3. James Nobles, Legislative Auditor is appointed by a State of MinnesotaLegislative Audit Commission to a six-year term.
4. Minnesota Statutes 2013. 3.978, subd. 2 (see attachment) provides the Office
of the Legislative Auditor with general legal authority to all data of any
classification (including not public data). Each year, when gaining access to the
UI system to conduct our audit, we provide the department with a notice (see
attachment) citing this authority.
Minnesota_OLA_Ac Minnesota Statutes
cess_Notice.pdf
3.978.pdf
Montana
South Carolina
1. Yes. When conducting our financial compliance or information systems audit
work at the Department of Labor we access UI claim records. We have also
conducted a performance audit of the administration of UI program
(http://leg.mt.gov/content/Publications/Audit/Report/12P-01.pdf)
2. Not when conducting audits of the Department of Labor; however, when
conducting work for an audit that is not of the Department of Labor, we have
been asked about our authority to access UI files. For example, we conducted
performance audit work on Dependent Eligibility for Health Insurance, and
cross-matched records to the Department of Labor and Industry’s
Unemployment Insurance Division. If I recall, we were asked to pay $500 under
some federal regulation to access the records, because the audit was not of
Department of Labor.
3. I am appointed by the Legislative Audit Committee.
4. See below.
MCA 5-13-309 (in part):
(1) All state agencies shall aid and assist the legislative auditor in the auditing of
books, accounts, activities, and records.
(2) The legislative auditor may examine at any time the books, accounts, activities,
and records, confidential or otherwise, of a state agency. This section may not
be construed as authorizing the publication of information prohibited by law.
1. Yes
2. Yes, in our last review we ended up having to enter into an MOU with the
agency in order to get access to UI claims information. We had discussions
with the US DOL about this also. Looking back, I have reservations about this
way this was done and would not recommend a similar path if it could be
avoided.
3. The LAC Director is appointed.
4. See below.
SECTION 2 15 61. Access by Council to agency records and facilities;
exception.
For the purposes of carrying out its audit duties under this chapter, the
Legislative Audit Council shall have access to the records and facilities of every
state agency during that agency's operating hours with the exception of reports
and returns of the South Carolina Department of Revenue as provided in
Sections 12 7 1680 and 12 35 1530.
Access to Unemployment Insurance Claim Information 5
State
Utah
Virginia
Wisconsin
Comments
There are also federal regulations that discuss access. Our conclusion was that
auditors have access but can’t public disclose information that could result in a
specific individual’s claim being identified.
Our office is not part of the legislative branch. However, we do access
unemployment insurance information for our audits. The agency does not question
our authority but we are required to fill-out requests for access to the system. The
requests include a confidentiality agreement.
This response is related to our audit of the Virginia Employment Commission.
1. Yes, we have access online at the Virginia Employment Commission and we
can access information on an individual claim. In addition, we get a download
from their data warehouse of certain information (tables and fields) related to
unemployment claims. The work we do at the Virginia Employment
Commission helps support our audit of the Commonwealth’s CAFR.
2. No
3. Appointed
4. We don’t have any additional citation related to this audit, we have a general
citation that is linked here:
http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title30/chapter14/section30-135/
1. Yes
2. No. In fact, the administrators of the Wisconsin UI Fund contract with us to
perform a financial audit.
3. Appointed.
4. Section 13.94 of the Wisconsin Statutes provides broad authority to access
documents:
13.94 (intro.) Legislative audit bureau. There is created a bureau to be known
as the "Legislative Audit Bureau", headed by a chief known as the "State
Auditor". The bureau shall be strictly nonpartisan and shall at all times observe
the confidential nature of any audit currently being performed. Subject to s.
230.35 (4) (a) and (f), the state auditor or designated employees shall at all
times with or without notice have access to all departments and to any
books, records or other documents maintained by the departments and
relating to their expenditures, revenues, operations and structure except
as provided in sub. (4) and except that access to documents of counties, cities,
villages, towns or school districts is limited to work performed in connection with
audits authorized under sub. (1) (m). In the discharge of any duty imposed by
law, the state auditor may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths and take
testimony and cause the deposition of witnesses to be taken as prescribed for
taking depositions in civil actions in circuit courts.
Access to Unemployment Insurance Claim Information 6