Rep. Brandon Gill briefs Denton County on reconciliation, voter ID and fraud probes

U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill visited the Denton County Commissioners Court on July 28 to present a commemorative America 250 flag and give a legislative update on work in Washington, D.C. The congressman outlined recent House actions including the Working Families Tax Cut reconciliation package, a rescission bill and a continuing resolution to avert a federal funding lapse at the end of the fiscal year.

Gill described the third reconciliation bill under consideration as focused on military funding and providing a vehicle for a "Save America" voter-ID measure. He said the House transmitted a budget resolution to the Senate and urged prompt action on both the reconciliation vehicle and the continuing resolution, which he said would fund government operations at current levels while negotiations continue.

In response to questions about investigations, Gill said his task force has examined birth-tourism businesses and Medicaid fraud. He gave rough estimates, stating the Minnesota case involved "about 15 to $16,000,000,000 a year" in fraud and said Ohio-level fraud could be about $1,000,000,000 a year, while acknowledging the difficulty of pinning down exact numbers. Gill described political resistance to fraud measures as partly rhetorical and partly structural because Medicaid is federally funded but administered by states.

Commissioners thanked Gill for the update and for constituent services offered by his district office. Gill said his office stands ready to assist with federal agency matters and encouraged Denton County officials and residents to reach out for help with Social Security, taxes, immigration and other federal issues.