Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Committee reviews data‑matching proposals in Senate Bill 85; fingerprinting, frequency and costs top concerns
Summary
Committee discussion of Senate Bill 85 focused on which federal and state data matches to run, how often to run them, legal or operational barriers (including a Social Security fingerprinting requirement), and the potential costs and workload impacts for DCF and KDHE.
The Committee on Welfare Reform held an extended, informal discussion of Senate Bill 85 — a bill directing periodic review of public‑assistance eligibility using federal and state data sources — but did not work the bill or take formal action.
Committee members and agency witnesses debated how frequently state agencies should receive or act on data matches from sources such as vital records, the Department of Labor, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Corrections, the National Directory of New Hires, HUD, and other federal repositories. Representatives from the Department for Children and Families (DCF), the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), the Medicaid Inspector General, and other staff were present to answer questions.
A DCF official who testified (referred to on the record as “Doctor”) said some of the data the bill would have required is already provided to the agencies, but that one specific Social Security Administration file — identified in committee as the BARS file — carries an exceptional access requirement. “Everyone would have to be fingerprinted for us to be able to access that information,” the official said, adding that…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
