Joe Heck has mostly voted for extending unemployment benefits. Heck's wife collected unemployment

House Republicans have been railing on unemployment benefits for two years, arguing that it’s part of the nation’s broken welfare system.

But one of their own — Nevada Rep. Joe Heck — has been benefiting from it.


His wife, Lisa, collected unemployment benefits in 2011, according to financial disclosure forms filed with the House in May.

Heck’s office portrays Lisa as another down-on-her-luck American.

“Like many Americans, after losing her job, Lisa Heck applied for and began receiving unemployment while she searched for work,” Greg Lemon, spokesman for the congressman, said in response to an inquiry from POLITICO. “As a mother, the wife of an active Army reservist and a congressional spouse, Mrs. Heck felt that it was in the best interest of the family to end her job search and remain at home. At that time, she stopped receiving unemployment.”

The full story, culled from a POLITICO analysis of public records, is a bit more complicated.

Heck worked for Specialized Medical Operations, where Joe Heck was president, according to financial disclosure forms filed with the House. The company, according to the congressman’s biography, was “dedicated to providing quality medical training, consulting and operational support to law enforcement, [emergency medical services] and military special operations.”

On Dec. 22, 2010, shortly before Heck was sworn into the House, the corporation was dissolved, according to records filed with the Nevada secretary of state’s office.

And in 2011, Heck’s company closed. He began earning $174,000 as a member of Congress. Lisa Heck was out of a job and started receiving unemployment benefits.

Joe Heck has mostly voted for extending unemployment benefits. He opposed a two-month extension of unemployment benefits and the payroll tax holiday — as did many other Republicans. And the Heck family’s financial picture isn’t as rosy as many lawmakers. His disclosures list at least $228,000 in assets and at least $315,000 in liabilities.

Heck isn’t always looking for money from the government. He recently asked the federal government whether he could opt out of his federal pension. When told he could not, he drafted a bill that would allow lawmakers to forgo the retirement payment.