By Dutton H.B. No. 990
76R1622 KKA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to administrative procedures and criminal convictions for
1-3 welfare fraud.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 531.109 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 531.109. ADMINISTRATIVE FINDING OF FRAUD; IMMUNITY FROM
1-8 CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. (a) The commission by rule shall adopt
1-9 administrative procedures to be used by the commission or an
1-10 appropriate health and human services agency in determining whether
1-11 an individual has engaged in fraudulent conduct to obtain or
1-12 attempt to obtain:
1-13 (1) financial assistance and services under Chapter
1-14 31, Human Resources Code;
1-15 (2) food stamps under the food stamp program
1-16 administered under Chapter 33, Human Resources Code; or
1-17 (3) medical assistance under the state Medicaid
1-18 program.
1-19 (b) The commission may provide for the imposition of an
1-20 administrative penalty against an individual determined to have
1-21 engaged in fraudulent conduct through the administrative procedures
1-22 established under Subsection (a).
1-23 (c) The administrative procedures must require the
1-24 commission or appropriate agency to provide written notice to an
2-1 individual of an allegation that the individual has engaged in
2-2 fraudulent conduct to obtain or attempt to obtain assistance or
2-3 benefits described by Subsection (a). The notice must include:
2-4 (1) a specific description of the allegedly fraudulent
2-5 conduct, including the monetary value of any benefits or assistance
2-6 the individual received as a result of the alleged conduct;
2-7 (2) a copy of the procedures adopted under this
2-8 section;
2-9 (3) a statement that an administrative penalty may be
2-10 imposed against the individual, if a penalty is authorized by the
2-11 commission under Subsection (b);
2-12 (4) a statement that a finding of fraudulent conduct
2-13 will subject the individual to criminal prosecution for subsequent
2-14 fraudulent conduct to which Subsection (a) applies; and
2-15 (5) a statement that the individual is entitled to
2-16 submit a written response or to request a hearing before the
2-17 commission or the appropriate agency.
2-18 (d) After considering any written response and after
2-19 conducting a hearing, if requested, the commission or appropriate
2-20 agency shall determine whether the individual engaged in fraudulent
2-21 conduct to obtain or attempt to obtain assistance or benefits
2-22 described by Subsection (a). If the commission or agency
2-23 determines that the individual engaged in fraudulent conduct, the
2-24 commission or agency:
2-25 (1) shall:
2-26 (A) issue a finding of fraudulent conduct;
2-27 (B) maintain a permanent record of the finding;
3-1 and
3-2 (C) seek recovery from the individual of the
3-3 amount of benefits or assistance, if any, obtained through the
3-4 fraudulent conduct; and
3-5 (2) may impose an administrative penalty against the
3-6 individual, if a penalty is authorized by the commission under
3-7 Subsection (b).
3-8 (e) A hearing under this section shall be conducted in the
3-9 manner provided for a contested case hearing under Chapter 2001.
3-10 (f) The administrative procedures required by this section
3-11 may be combined with any other appropriate administrative procedure
3-12 conducted by the commission or an appropriate health and human
3-13 services agency.
3-14 (g) Except as provided by Subsection (h), an individual who
3-15 engages in fraudulent conduct to obtain or attempt to obtain
3-16 assistance or benefits listed under Subsection (a) may be convicted
3-17 of perjury under Section 37.02, Penal Code, tampering with a
3-18 governmental record under Section 37.10, Penal Code, an offense
3-19 against property under Title 7, Penal Code, or an offense under
3-20 Section 33.011, Human Resources Code, in connection with the
3-21 fraudulent conduct only if the individual has been found under this
3-22 section by the commission or an appropriate agency to have
3-23 previously engaged in fraudulent conduct to which Subsection (a)
3-24 applies.
3-25 (h) The immunity from conviction granted by Subsection (g)
3-26 does not apply to an individual who fails to pay or defaults in a
3-27 payment plan relating to an amount sought by the commission or an
4-1 appropriate agency under Subsection (d)(1)(C) or imposed under
4-2 Subsection (d)(2).
4-3 SECTION 2. Section 531.109, Government Code, as added by
4-4 this Act, applies only to conduct committed on or after the
4-5 effective date of this Act. Conduct committed before the effective
4-6 date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the conduct
4-7 was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
4-8 purpose.
4-9 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-10 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.