By Carona                                             S.B. No. 1158
         76R4873 CLG-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to fraudulent conduct with respect to TANF benefits.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
 1-5     is amended by adding Section 31.017 to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 31.017.  FRAUD.  (a)   For purposes of establishing or
 1-7     maintaining the eligibility of the person and the person's family
 1-8     for financial assistance or for purposes of increasing or
 1-9     preventing a reduction in the amount of the assistance, a person
1-10     may not intentionally:
1-11                 (1)  make a statement that the person knows is false or
1-12     misleading;
1-13                 (2)  misrepresent, conceal, or withhold a fact; or
1-14                 (3)  represent a statement to be true if the person
1-15     knows the statement is false.
1-16           (b)  If after an investigation the department determines that
1-17     a person has violated this section, the department shall:
1-18                 (1)  notify the person of the alleged violation not
1-19     later than the 30th day after the date the investigation is
1-20     completed and conduct a hearing; or
1-21                 (2)  refer the matter to the appropriate district
1-22     attorney for prosecution.
1-23           (c)  If a hearing officer at an administrative hearing held
1-24     under this section determines that a person has violated this
 2-1     section, the department shall permanently disqualify the person
 2-2     from receiving financial assistance.  A person whom a hearing
 2-3     officer determines to be in violation of this section may appeal
 2-4     the determination by filing a petition in the district court in the
 2-5     county in which the violation occurred not later than the 30th day
 2-6     after the date of the decision.
 2-7           (d)  If a person is convicted of an offense under the Penal
 2-8     Code for conduct described by this section, the person is
 2-9     permanently disqualified from receiving financial assistance.
2-10           (e)  A person who is permanently disqualified from receiving
2-11     financial assistance under this section is also permanently
2-12     disqualified from receiving medical assistance, child care, or any
2-13     other social or support services.
2-14           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-15     applies only to a person who receives financial assistance under
2-16     Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, on or after that date regardless
2-17     of the date on which eligibility for that assistance was
2-18     determined.
2-19           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-20     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-21     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-22     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-23     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.