DENY BENEFITS TO FUGITIVES H.B. 5509 (H-2): FLOOR ANALYSIS
House Bill 5509 (Substitute H-2 as reported by the Committee of the Whole) Sponsor: Representative Jack Horton
House Committee: Human Services
Senate Committee: Families, Mental Health and Human Services
The bill would amend the Social Welfare Act to require the Family Independence Agency (FIA) to withhold public assistance from a recipient, and disclose the recipient's address to a law enforcement officer, if the officer demonstrated that the recipient was subject to arrest under certain conditions or was a material witness to a crime, and attested that apprehension of the recipient or a member of the recipient’s household was within the officer’s official duties and that the requested information was necessary to conduct his or her duties. ("Public assistance" would mean Family Independence Assistance, State Family Assistance, State Disability Assistance, or food stamps that were provided under the Act.)
The FIA promptly would have to take any action necessary to obtain Federal approval, if it were required in order to prevent the loss of Federal reimbursement as a result of the application of the provisions of the bill to a recipient receiving Family Independence Assistance or food stamps. In the absence of any necessary Federal approval, the FIA could apply these provisions only to recipients of State Family Assistance and State Disability Assistance.
The bill would take effect October 1, 1996.
Proposed MCL 400.10a & 400.10b Legislative Analyst: L. Burghardt
The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the department of Family Independence Agency. At this time it is difficult to assess how many individual State welfare recipients would be temporarily or permanently suspended from the current caseloads, but assuming there were some, this action would result in some savings. However, current plans and activities for the department technological data system would allow for efficient communication with State law enforcement agencies regarding outstanding warrants and arrests. Some additional administrative cost related to information access and transmittal could be incurred by the department.
Date Completed: 3-14-96 Fiscal Analyst: C. Cole
floor\hb5509
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.