S-2205.1  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5261

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Health & Long‑Term Care (originally sponsored by Senators Hargrove, Winsley and Long)

Read first time 03/05/97.

Studying the use of a finger-imaging system to reduce and prevent welfare fraud.

    AN ACT Relating to utilizing drivers' licenses and identicards to prevent welfare fraud; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The intent of this act is to prevent duplicate assistance welfare fraud.  Each year a significant amount of money is stolen from the department of social and health services by welfare recipients who establish themselves with multiple identities.  This act will significantly reduce duplicate assistance welfare fraud by requiring welfare recipients to prove their identity by presenting an authentic Washington state driver's license or identicard.  This act anticipates that the department of licensing will soon be introducing a new driver's license and identicard that cannot be fraudulently obtained or counterfeited.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  EVALUATION STUDY.  The office of the attorney general shall contract with a consultant, to evaluate the usage of a finger-imaging system in Washington state for the purpose of reducing and preventing public assistance fraud.  Elements of the evaluation shall include:

    (1) A review of other states' experience in implementing finger-imaging systems for fraud reduction and prevention, including a summary of the costs and savings;

    (2) An estimate, based upon Washington's welfare demographics and historical experience in public assistance fraud, of a finger-imaging system's costs and savings in Washington state, if implemented by the department of social and health services for the reduction and prevention of public assistance fraud;

    (3) A description of how a department of licensing system, utilizing drivers' licenses and identicards with finger-imaging technology to authenticate the identity of public assistance recipients, would operate in conjunction with the department of social and health services' fraud prevention efforts.  The consultant shall evaluate this element only if legislation establishing a voluntary or mandatory one-to-many finger-imaging system by the department of licensing is enacted by the 1997 legislature.

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