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Joint Budget Committee introduces bill to consolidate county administration of public‑assistance programs
Summary
The Joint Budget Committee voted 6‑0 to introduce LLS 4 25, a draft law to centralize certain county administration functions for public‑assistance programs and create performance‑based contracts to reduce error rates. Members flagged necessary cleanups, the need to include CHIP references, and how fraud work will interface with existing audits.
The Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday voted 6‑0 to introduce LLS 4 25, the County Administration Public Assistance Programs bill, after members said the measure aims to streamline county‑state coordination and address high error rates in safety‑net programs.
The committee chair said the draft reflects months of work and called for further editing: “this is an unedited, unrevised draft … there is still quite a lot of cleanup that will have to be done for the bill,” and warned members to expect amendments on fraud sections, data cleanup and the working‑group appointment language.
Tom Dermany, budget committee staff, described the bill’s shared‑services approach for fraud investigations. “The idea is that one county would essentially run point, under contract with the departments, with the state, for fraud investigations and collections,” Dermany said, adding he did not yet know how the bill would interface with existing audit or extrapolation efforts.
Representative Taggart said the bill needs clearer corrective objectives for error rates. He urged that performance contracts include measurable targets so counties and the state know what improvement is expected.
Senator Kirkmeyer and Vice Chair Bridges both expressed support for moving the measure forward, saying counties and stakeholder groups had reviewed the draft and viewed it as a positive step. Bridges said the bill responds in part to pressures created by HR 1 but stressed that the need for better administration predates that legislation.
Vice Chair Bridges moved to introduce the bill; the motion passed on a vote of 6‑0. The chair said the bill will start in the House. House sponsors were announced as Sirota and Brown; Senate sponsors as Kirkmeyer and Amabile; cosponsors included Bridal and Taggart.
Next steps: committee members said staff will continue drafting conforming amendments, incorporate CHIP references where Medicaid is cited, and finalize the working‑group appointment language before the bill is filed.
