Bill Text: TX HCR54 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Approving the SNAP settlement agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-18 - Signed by the Governor [HCR54 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HCR54-Enrolled.html
H.C.R. No. 54 |
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WHEREAS, In 2015, the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) | ||
began an investigation of the Health and Human Services Commission | ||
(HHSC) quality control (QC) of the Supplemental Nutrition | ||
Assistance Program (SNAP) from 2007 to the present, requesting | ||
documents from HHSC in April 2017 and deposing HHSC staff in March | ||
2019; and | ||
WHEREAS, DOJ's investigation focused on whether HHSC | ||
properly and accurately calculated, determined, and reported | ||
Texas' error rates in compliance with FNS requirements regarding | ||
SNAP QC; specifically, DOJ focused on HHSC's relationship with | ||
Julie Osnes Consulting (Osnes), a contractor who assisted HHSC in | ||
determining SNAP error rates and quality control review of SNAP | ||
cases from September 2009 to June 2015; and | ||
WHEREAS, DOJ was concerned that, by following certain | ||
recommendations by Osnes, HHSC failed to maintain the integrity of | ||
the QC system by introducing bias into its processes; and | ||
WHEREAS, Osnes reached a settlement with DOJ in June 2019 of | ||
$751,571, and to date three other states have settled DOJ's claims | ||
related to their implementation of Osnes's recommendations: | ||
(a) April 2017--Virginia settled for $7,150,436; | ||
(b) April 2017--Wisconsin settled for $6,991,905; | ||
(c) September 2017--Alaska settled for $2,489,999; and | ||
WHEREAS, DOJ claimed that HHSC's SNAP management violated the | ||
Federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729, et seq.) and the Program | ||
Fraud Civil Remedies Act (31 U.S.C. 3801, et seq.), in addition to | ||
asserting various claims under common law; and | ||
WHEREAS, The Covered Conduct alleged by DOJ included: | ||
(a) Changing QC findings or dropping cases from review to | ||
reduce or eliminate errors; | ||
(b) Adding to or removing information from case files as | ||
necessary to support the new findings and submitting the revised | ||
findings and information to the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service; | ||
(c) Finding ways to induce client responses to justify | ||
dropping error cases from the review and asking leading questions | ||
of clients to obtain desired answers to eliminate error potential; | ||
(d) Selectively applying requirements and policies to | ||
overturn and reduce errors; | ||
(e) Retaliating against SNAP employees who questioned using | ||
Osnes's methods by removing the employees from the QC review team; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, DOJ sought recovery of two years of accuracy | ||
performance bonuses paid to HHSC, as well as certain other costs | ||
associated with the QC process and the relationship with Osnes; and | ||
WHEREAS, DOJ engaged HHSC in settlement negotiations, with | ||
the Office of the Attorney General representing HHSC in both the | ||
investigation and settlement discussions; and | ||
WHEREAS, In December 2019, the parties reached agreement on | ||
the following terms: | ||
(a) A total settlement amount of $15,294,360: | ||
(1) Of that amount, DOJ characterizes $13,396,343 as | ||
restitution for the performance bonuses paid to the State; | ||
(2) The remaining $1,898,017 represents repayment of | ||
the federally funded portion of HHSC's QC costs and the amounts paid | ||
to Osnes, plus a "multiplier" required by DOJ; | ||
(b) Waiver by HHSC of any claim to the 2014 performance | ||
bonus that was awarded but never paid to the State; | ||
(c) No admission of liability by HHSC; and | ||
WHEREAS, Section 111.003(b) of the Texas Civil Practice and | ||
Remedies Code prohibits HHSC from entering a settlement agreement | ||
that requires the payment of damages of more than $10,000,000 | ||
within a fiscal biennium; therefore, the settlement agreement is | ||
expressly conditioned upon the legislature approving and | ||
appropriating the agreed upon settlement amount; and | ||
WHEREAS, Since the findings resulting in the settlement, the | ||
U.S. Department of Agriculture has reviewed HHSC's Quality Control | ||
SNAP section processes twice and did not identify any adverse | ||
finding; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby approve the proposed Settlement Agreement. | ||
Meza | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.C.R. No. 54 was adopted by the House on May | ||
14, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 110, Nays 16, 1 present, not | ||
voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.C.R. No. 54 was adopted by the Senate on May | ||
27, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |