HLS 21RS-550 ENGROSSED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 7
BY REPRESENTATIVE ECHOLS
FRAUD: Requests that the Dept. of Children and Family Services study out-of-state
expenditures of Louisiana-issued Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
benefits in order to identify fraud
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services to study out-of-state
3 expenditures of Louisiana-issued Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
4 benefits in order to identify fraud and to report findings of the study to the House
5 Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on Health and Welfare.
6 WHEREAS, the program formerly known as "food stamps" was renamed the
7Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2008; and
8 WHEREAS, SNAP, which is administered at the state level by the Louisiana
9Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), is the largest of all federal food
10assistance programs and provides support to needy households and to those making the
11transition from welfare to work; and
12 WHEREAS, in January of 2021, nine hundred eighty-one thousand seven hundred
13fifty-one individuals received nutrition assistance benefits through Louisiana's SNAP
14program; and
15 WHEREAS, according to a report that DCFS produced in March of 2021, in the
16twelve months preceding the production of the report, Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits had
17been expended in all fifty states of the United States; and
18 WHEREAS, in that twelve-month period, Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits were
19expended in the states bordering Louisiana in the following amounts:
20 (1) Twenty-five million six hundred nine thousand one hundred seventy-nine dollars
21of Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits were expended in Texas.
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HR NO. 7
1 (2) Twelve million two hundred forty-one thousand one hundred sixty-four dollars
2of Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits were expended in Mississippi.
3 (3) Two million eight hundred thirty-two thousand two hundred ninety-four dollars
4of Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits were expended in Arkansas; and
5 WHEREAS, in the same twelve-month period, over two million seven hundred sixty
6two thousand dollars of Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits were expended in Georgia, over
7nine hundred seventy-nine thousand dollars of Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits were
8expended in California, over two hundred fifty-six thousand dollars of Louisiana-issued
9SNAP benefits were expended in the state of Washington, over sixty-five thousand dollars
10of Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits were expended in Massachusetts, and over thirty-two
11thousand dollars of Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits were expended in Hawaii; and
12 WHEREAS, also in that twelve-month period, the SNAP benefits of two thousand
13nine hundred thirty-five Louisiana SNAP enrollees were expended exclusively at out-of-state
14retailers for at least six consecutive months and the SNAP benefits of three hundred sixty-
15eight Louisiana SNAP enrollees were expended exclusively at out-of-state retailers for the
16entire twelve months; and
17 WHEREAS, with respect to administration of public assistance programs, the term
18"program integrity" refers to actions by the administering agency to detect and prevent fraud,
19waste, and abuse in those programs, and thereby ensure that public dollars are expended only
20on assistance and services for people who are eligible for benefits provided through those
21programs; and
22 WHEREAS, policing of out-of-state expenditures of Louisiana-issued SNAP benefits
23by DCFS will enhance program integrity in SNAP.
24 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
25Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Children and
26Family Services to study out-of-state expenditures of Louisiana-issued Supplemental
27Nutrition Assistance Program benefits reflected in the twelve-month report that the
28department produced in March of 2021 in order to identify fraud in this major public
29assistance program.
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HR NO. 7
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Children and Family Services
2shall report findings of the study called for in this Resolution to the House Committee on
3Appropriations and the House Committee on Health and Welfare on or before December 31,
42021.
5 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
6secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services.
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 7 Engrossed 2021 Regular Session Echols
Requests the Dept. of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to study out-of-state
expenditures of Louisiana-issued Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits
reflected in a March, 2021 report of the department in order to identify fraud.
Requires DCFS to report findings of the study to the House Committee on Appropriations
and the House Committee on Health and Welfare on or before Dec. 31, 2021.
Summary of Amendments Adopted by House
The Committee Amendments Proposed by House Committee on Health and Welfare to
the original bill:
1. Specify that the study called for by the resolution shall examine expenditures of
benefits reflected in a March, 2021 DCFS report.
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