1-1     By:  Carona                                           S.B. No. 1158
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 1999; March 11, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Human Services;
 1-4     April 6, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 1; April 6, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1158                  By:  Carona
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to fraudulent conduct with respect to Temporary Assistance
1-11     for Needy Families (TANF) benefits.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
1-14     is amended by adding Section 31.017 to read as follows:
1-15           Sec. 31.017.  FRAUD.  (a)   For purposes of establishing or
1-16     maintaining the eligibility of the person and the person's family
1-17     for financial assistance or for purposes of increasing the amount
1-18     of the assistance or preventing a reduction in the amount of the
1-19     assistance, a person may not intentionally:
1-20                 (1)  make a statement that the person knows is false or
1-21     misleading;
1-22                 (2)  misrepresent, conceal, or withhold a fact; or
1-23                 (3)  represent a statement to be true if the person
1-24     knows the statement is false.
1-25           (b)  If after an investigation the department determines that
1-26     a person has violated this section, the department shall:
1-27                 (1)  notify the person of the alleged violation not
1-28     later than the 30th day after the date the investigation is
1-29     completed and provide the person with an opportunity for a hearing
1-30     on the matter; or
1-31                 (2)  refer the matter to the appropriate district
1-32     attorney for prosecution.
1-33           (c)  If a hearing officer at an administrative hearing held
1-34     under this section determines that a person has violated this
1-35     section, the department shall disqualify the person from receiving
1-36     financial assistance.  A person whom a hearing officer determines
1-37     to be in violation of this section may appeal the determination by
1-38     filing a petition in the district court in the county in which the
1-39     violation occurred not later than the 30th day after the date of
1-40     the decision.
1-41           (d)  If a person is convicted of an offense under the Penal
1-42     Code for conduct described by this section, the person is
1-43     permanently disqualified from receiving financial assistance.
1-44           (e)  If a person is convicted of an offense under this
1-45     section that is not an offense under the Penal Code for conduct
1-46     described by this section, the person is disqualified from
1-47     receiving financial assistance:
1-48                 (1)  for a period of three years on the first violation
1-49     under this section; or
1-50                 (2)  permanently on the second or subsequent violation
1-51     under this section.
1-52           (f)  The department shall adopt rules to implement the
1-53     requirements of this section.
1-54           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-55     applies only to a person who receives financial assistance under
1-56     Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, on or after that date regardless
1-57     of the date on which eligibility for that assistance was
1-58     determined.
1-59           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-60     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-61     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-62     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-63     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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