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Massachusetts must pay feds $2.1B after mistakenly using pandemic funds to cover unemployment benefits

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Massachusetts must pay feds .1B after mistakenly using pandemic funds to cover unemployment benefits

Massachusetts must pay the federal government $2.1 billion over the next 10 years to resolve a debt after the state under former GOP Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration mistakenly used federal pandemic funds to cover unemployment benefits.

Current Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, and her deputies released details on Monday of a settlement they reached with the outgoing Biden administration last week in which the state will repay most of the money it owed because of the error, the State House News Service reported.

In 2023, Healey announced that her administration uncovered that the prior administration improperly used about $2.5 billion in federal pandemic relief funds to cover unemployment benefits that should have been funded by the state.

The total liability exceeded $3 billion, including fees and interest, according to Healey’s office. Negotiations with the U.S. Department of Labor dropped the total owed to $2.1 billion over the next decade.

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Maura Healey, governor of Massachusetts, speaks at Roxbury Community College in Boston, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We were dismayed to uncover early on in our term that the previous administration misspent billions of dollars in federal relief funds and that our state was facing what could have been a more than $3 billion tab to pay it back,” Healey said in a statement on Monday.

“For the past year and a half, we have engaged in extensive negotiations with the U.S. Department of Labor to minimize the impact on Massachusetts residents, businesses and our economy,” she continued. “Today, we have reduced our potential liability by over $1 billion and negotiated a decade-long payment window to mitigate the impact.”

The governor added that it is “incredibly frustrating that the prior administration allowed this to happen” but that the current administration is “going to use this as a moment to come together with the business and labor community to make meaningful reforms to the Unemployment Insurance system.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker speaks during a Juneteenth commemoration in Boston’s Nubian Square, June 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

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Payments will begin Dec. 1 and continue each year for the next decade.

The agreement states that principal payments must come from the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund, which is funded by a tax on employers and is also used to cover benefits, according to the State House News Service. Interest payments will come from the state’s General Fund.

Healey’s office said businesses will not face higher rates on their unemployment insurance payments through at least the end of next year, at which point rates will depend on system reforms.

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Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey takes questions from reporters, Jan. 31, 2024, during a news conference in Boston. (Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

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The governor vowed to pursue changes to soften the burden on employers, who already face higher costs to support an uptick of claims during the pandemic, according to the State House News Service.

Healey directed state Labor Secretary Lauren Jones and Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz to “conduct a comprehensive review of the solvency of UI and assess potential reforms.”

The Healey administration projected the UI Trust Fund would be hundreds of millions of dollars in debt by the end of 2028, even before taking into account the $2.1 billion in additional payments.

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Northeast

DHS torches New Jersey’s profane ‘F—ICE Act’ as assaults on agents skyrocket 1,300%

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DHS torches New Jersey’s profane ‘F—ICE Act’ as assaults on agents skyrocket 1,300%

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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security slammed a new vulgar New Jersey bill aimed at punishing federal immigration enforcement in the Garden State, highlighting several victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants that officials say lawmakers are ignoring.

Earlier this week, Assemblymembers Ravinder Bhalla and Katie Brennan, both Hoboken Democrats, drafted the “F—ICE Act” — with the profane acronym spelled out — that would allow civil action to be taken against immigration enforcement agents.

The bill was reportedly drafted after a Democratic Socialist councilman from neighboring Jersey City was rebuked by a federal agent when he arrived at the scene of a raid on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, where an agent told him: “I don’t need a warrant, bro.”

“This is a disgusting bill just meant to demonize our officers who are experiencing a highly coordinated campaign of violence against our law enforcement,” Deputy Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

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New Jerseyans protest ICE. (Charly Triballeau/Getty Images)

“Our officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats.”

Bis warned that anyone who lays hands on officers or tries to obstruct their operations “is committing a felony and a federal crime.”

“What these New Jersey sanctuary lawmakers are trying to do is unlawful, and they know it. Federal officials acting in the course of their duties are immune from liability under state law,” she said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the New Jersey Assembly Majority Office for comment from Bhalla and Brennan.

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Bis later added that New Jersey is the same state that “allowed a criminal illegal alien onto American streets who killed a mother and 11-year-old daughter while drunk driving.”

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“What about recourse for the victims of illegal aliens?” she asked of the F—ICE Act sponsors.

Bis outlined several recent DHS arrests of illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes, including Felix Diaz of Cuba, who was arrested on a homicide charge.

Rodrigo Basantes of Ecuador was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child through sexual contact and sexual assault of a victim under age 13, while Mexican national Jose Villalva was previously convicted of child molestation.

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Later Friday, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill doubled down on the state’s tack toward ICE with a scathing letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem objecting to the purchase of a warehouse near Lake Hopatcong that would be used as a federal facility.

“The Roxbury immigration detention facility will not make New Jerseyans safer. Across the country, federal immigration officers have trampled on basic liberties and engaged in unconscionable acts of violence against law-abiding Americans,” Sherrill claimed.

“These acts of violence have left Americans severely injured and, in some cases, resulted in their deaths. ICE agents have repeatedly violated the constitutional rights of citizens and non-citizens alike. I have no reason to believe that DHS will treat the people of New Jersey any differently should it expand its presence in our state.”

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She claimed DHS has shown a “chilling disregard for both human life and the rule of law.”

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However, not every New Jerseyan has been on board with the new governor, as boos rained down on the former Morristown congresswoman when she was introduced at a New Jersey Devils hockey game this week.

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Boston, MA

Flights to and from Middle East keep getting canceled at Boston Logan

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Flights to and from Middle East keep getting canceled at Boston Logan


As tensions remain high in the Middle East, travel continues to be impacted across the globe.

Flights to and from the Middle East keep getting canceled at Boston Logan International Airport, and there were no signs of improvement Sunday as Americans are left scrambling to get to safety. The Trump administration has promised to help but getting out isn’t easy.

Several flights from Dubai to Boston were canceled Sunday, and aviation experts say about 3,000 seats per day go through Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Without them, people are trying to get home through Europe or Asia.

When not in use by the team during the NFL season, the Patriots team plane is operated by a charter company for various flights.

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Meanwhile, Iran’s busiest airport was hit by strikes with Israel later saying it was being used to transfer weapons to regime allies in the region.

The Iranian foreign minister spoke on Meet the Press Sunday about what it would take to agree to a ceasefire and ultimately end the war.

“Nobody wants to continue this war. This is not our war. This is not a war of our choice. This is imposed on us by the United States, by Israelis…” Abbas Araghchi said. “People have been killed. Places have been destroyed and now they want to ask for a ceasefire again? This doesn’t work like this.”

With no clear end to this conflict and airlines backed up as it is, experts say it will take a while to get people where they need to go, though the State Department says it has chartered many flights to bring Americans home, including chartering the Patriots plane.

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Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh’s Home & Garden Show attracts vendors of all stripes – and even more customers

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Pittsburgh’s Home & Garden Show attracts vendors of all stripes – and even more customers






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