_______________________________________________
SENATE
BILL 5652
_______________________________________________
AS
AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed
Legislature - 1995 Regular Session
State of Washington 54th
Legislature 1995 Regular Session
By
Read first time 01/30/95.
Referred to Committee on Health & Long‑Term Care.
Temporarily
prohibiting public assistance payments for willful violators of public
assistance eligibility provisions.
AN ACT
Relating to welfare fraud; amending RCW 74.08.290 and 74.04.062; adding a new
section to chapter 74.08 RCW; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. The
legislature finds that welfare fraud damages the state's ability to use its
limited resources to help those in need who legitimately qualify for
assistance. In addition, it affects the credibility and integrity of the
system, promoting disdain for the law.
Persons
convicted of committing such fraud should be barred, for a period of time, from
receiving additional public assistance.
Sec.
2. RCW
74.08.290 and 1959 c 26 s 74.08.290 are each amended to read as follows:
The
department is hereby authorized to suspend temporarily the public assistance
granted to any person for any period during which such person is not in need
thereof.
If a
recipient is convicted of any crime or offense, and punished by imprisonment,
no payment shall be made during the period of imprisonment.
If
a recipient is convicted of unlawful practices under RCW 74.08.331, no payment
shall be made for a period to be determined by the court, but in no event less
than six months upon the first conviction and no less than twelve months for a
second or subsequent violation. This suspension of public assistance shall
apply regardless of whether the recipient is subject to complete or partial
confinement upon conviction, or incurs some lesser penalty.
Sec.
3. RCW
74.04.062 and 1973 c 152 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Upon
written request of a person who has been properly identified as an officer of
the law with a felony arrest warrant or a properly identified United States
immigration official with a warrant for an illegal alien the department shall
disclose to such officer the current address and location of the person
properly described in the warrant. However, this rule does not restrict in
any manner whatsoever the disclosure of address and location information by the
department pursuant to its implementation of the federal "systematic alien
verification for entitlements" program or pursuant to section 4 of this
act.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. A new
section is added to chapter 74.08 RCW to read as follows:
The
department shall implement the federal "systematic alien verification for
entitlements" program, the "SAVE" program. The department
shall:
(1)
Coordinate with other state agencies, including but not limited to the
employment security department, to ensure that persons receiving federal or
state funds are eligible in terms of citizenship and residency status;
(2)
Post at every community service office a sign letting applicants and recipients
know that illegal aliens will be reported to the United States immigration and
naturalization service and that the systematic alien verification for
entitlements program is in use in the office; and
(3)
Systematically use all processes available to verify eligibility in terms of
the citizenship and residency status of applicants and recipients for public
assistance.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. The
department shall have the SAVE program in full force and effect by September 30,
1995, and report to the fiscal committees of the house of representatives and
senate by December 1, 1995, regarding the progress of implementation and
outcomes by region of the program.
