ST. LOUIS – The State of Missouri is forgiving the repayment of pandemic funds for one resident.
This topic is not new to FOX 2, as there have been several who have had the state attempt to collect pandemic unemployment funds that Missouri claims were overpaid.
David Wilmoth, who lives on disability, had a huge break.
“They denied both waivers… you did what you did and I just kind of waited to see what would happen next. Seven days later, after talking to you, I got two more letters in the mail saying, ‘Hey, we approved you for your waivers,’” he said. “$16,500 is what they were saying I overpaid. It was a total of $12,200 that they waived and said that you no longer owe this.”
Wilmoth said it was hard to believe, as it had been a major hardship on him when the state claimed he had to repay more than $16,000.
“I felt like I was sunk—it’s always in the back of your mind,” Wilmoth said. “If you go to the store and you needed milk, you think, ‘Do I buy the milk? I don’t know if I can afford to buy milk.’”
Nearly 30,000 Missourians were in the same boat as the state tried to recover millions of dollars. Although the federal government had forgiven its share of the money, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson pushed for recovering taxpayer money he said was overpaid.
State legislation tried and failed to give residents a break on repayment. But now, David Wilmoth is one of the lucky ones.
“I’m glad that they’re trying to do something to make it right, and I do appreciate that,” Wilmoth said.
