H-1947.1  _______________________________________________

                     HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4015

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

By Representatives Boldt, Sump, Schoesler, Carrell, Dunn and B. Thomas

Read first time 02/19/97.  Referred to Committee on Children & Family Services.

Petitioning Idaho and Oregon to establish a tristate committee to deal with the problem of interstate public assistance fraud.

    TO THE HONORABLE PHILIP E. BATT, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF IDAHO; THE HONORABLE JOHN KITZHABER, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF OREGON; THE PRESIDENT OF THE IDAHO STATE SENATE; THE PRESIDENT OF THE OREGON STATE SENATE; THE SPEAKER OF THE IDAHO STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; THE SPEAKER OF THE OREGON STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; AND TO THE IDAHO STATE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE OREGON STATE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:

    We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

    WHEREAS, Due to federal legislative action by the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of the United States, and the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, the nature of the federal public assistance system is undergoing the most dramatic change in the past sixty years; and

    WHEREAS, Federal legislation requires that states be increasingly diligent concerning how public assistant moneys are spent and compels states to ensure that those who are receiving public assistance are truly in need; and

    WHEREAS, States will have the opportunity to design and administer  income assistance programs that may be substantially and materially different than bordering states; and

    WHEREAS, There is a small percentage of the population who receive and seek or attempt to receive public assistance in a fraudulent manner and in effect take limited assistance resources away from the truly needy; and

    WHEREAS, There is concern that a significant amount of interstate  public assistance fraud already exists and that the recent changes in public assistance laws will increase the potential for this type of criminal activity;

    NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that a tristate committee dealing with interstate public assistance fraud be established among the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington for the purposes of developing cooperative relationships aimed at creating effective strategies to deal with the problem of interstate public assistance fraud.

    BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Philip E. Batt, Governor of the State of Idaho; the Honorable John Kitzhaber, Governor of the State of Oregon; the President of the Idaho State Senate; the President of the Oregon State Senate; the Speaker of the Idaho State House of Representatives; the Speaker of the Oregon State House of Representatives; and to the Idaho State Senate and House of Representatives and the Oregon State Senate and House of Representatives.

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