HLS 21RS-548 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 5
BY REPRESENTATIVE ECHOLS
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE: Requests state agencies administering public assistance programs
to ensure that state employees enrolled in those programs are eligible for benefits
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health, the Department of Children and
3 Family Services, and the Louisiana Department of Education to ensure that state
4 employees enrolled in public assistance programs of those agencies are eligible for
5 benefits.
6 WHEREAS, Louisiana's major public assistance programs include the following:
7 (1) The medical assistance program administered by the Louisiana Department of
8Health pursuant to Title XIX of the Social Security Act and known commonly as Medicaid.
9 (2) The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children
10administered by the Louisiana Department of Health and known commonly as WIC.
11 (3) The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program administered by the Department
12of Children and Family Services formerly known as "food stamps" and now known
13commonly as SNAP.
14 (4) The following cash assistance programs administered by the Department of
15Children and Family Services as part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
16program of this state:
17 (a) The Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (cash assistance
18program for needy individuals and families).
19 (b) The Kinship Care Subsidy Program (providing cash assistance on behalf of
20children in low-income families who reside with qualified relatives other than parents).
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HR NO. 5
1 (5) The Child Care Assistance Program administered by the Louisiana Department
2of Education which provides financial assistance to low-income individuals for child care
3while those individuals are working or attending school; and
4 WHEREAS, in December of 2020, one million eight hundred seventeen thousand
5five hundred thirty persons - a figure representing nearly forty percent of the entire
6population of this state - were enrolled in the Louisiana Medicaid program, making Medicaid
7the largest of this state's public assistance programs in terms of number of enrollees; and
8 WHEREAS, the second-largest of this state's public assistance programs in terms of
9number of enrollees is SNAP, through which nine hundred eighty-one thousand seven
10hundred fifty-one individuals received nutrition assistance benefits in January of 2021; and
11 WHEREAS, with respect to administration of public assistance programs, the term
12"program integrity" refers to actions by the administering agency to detect and prevent fraud,
13waste, and abuse in those programs, and thereby ensure that public dollars are expended only
14on assistance and services for people who are eligible for benefits provided through those
15programs; and
16 WHEREAS, achieving the highest degree of program integrity is essential in the
17public assistance programs of this state, especially considering the large numbers of
18individuals and families that these programs serve.
19 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
20Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health,
21the Department of Children and Family Services, and the Louisiana Department of
22Education to take all measures necessary to ensure that state employees who are enrolled in
23public assistance programs administered by each department, respectively, are eligible for
24benefits of those programs.
25 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
26secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, the secretary of the Department of Children
27and Family Services, and the state superintendent of education.
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HR NO. 5
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 5 Original 2021 Regular Session Echols
Requests the La. Dept. of Health, the Dept. of Children and Family Services, and the La.
Dept. of Education to take all measures necessary to ensure that state employees who are
enrolled in public assistance programs are eligible for benefits of those programs.
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