Bills to dramatically change public assistance won't advance at Iowa Capitol, key lawmakers say

A set of public assistance bills, including a proposal to add work requirements to Iowa's Medicaid program, are unlikely to become law this year, according to key Republican lawmakers.

Rep. Shannon Lundgren, who chairs the House Human Resources Committee, told the Des Moines Register she will not bring up three public assistance bills that were sent to her committee from the Senate. Republicans control both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.

Those bills would have required some people on Medicaid to work in order to receive health benefits; required recipients of government food assistance to comply with child support; and allowed law enforcement to prosecute people found with multiple electronic benefits cards that are not theirs.

The bills would have needed to advance out of Lundgren's committee by next week to survive a legislative deadline. While there are other ways for a policy bill to remain alive for the session, her lack of support effectively kills their chances.

Lundgren, a Peosta Republican, said she came to her decision, in part, after a recent presentation at the Capitol from state fraud investigators. The officials provided data that shows few instances of public assistance fraud in Iowa.

Lundgren said she takes fraud cases seriously, but she wants to better understand the data before enacting new policy. She also wants to make sure that state agencies are involved in drafting future legislation.

"Just because the Senate sent us a bill that says, 'This is what we're trying to fix,' if that's not the problem the department sees that needs to be fixed, what are we doing? We're adding language into a code … that doesn't solve any problems for people," she said.

Sen. Jason Schultz, who sponsored the Senate's bills, said he understands from his conversations with lawmakers that the proposals likely won't advance this year.

The Schleswig Republican said he's hopeful lawmakers will reconsider the measures next year; the bills on child support and electronic benefits cards had Democratic support in his chamber.

"I’m not speaking for them, I just believe that when they take a look at this, without the pressure of session, they’re going to see that this is thought out and pretty good legislation and also that it’s very popular with the people of Iowa," Schultz said.

Schultz has led an effort in the Senate to address what his caucus calls "welfare reform." The programs they have been looking to change include, but are not limited to, the Medicaid program for poor and disabled Iowans, the Family Investment Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is also known as food stamps.

Similar legislative efforts in other statehouses in recent years have become tangled in litigation. On Wednesday, a federal judge struck down Medicaid work rules in Arkansas and Kentucky.

Mary Nelle Trefz, a lobbyist for the Child and Family Policy Center, said she believes the Iowa measures wouldn't prevent fraud but are likely to create additional red tape that could cause Iowans to lose their benefits.

"We do not want fraud or abuse or waste in our system. However, we have confidence in our state agencies that are already required to monitor for fraud and abuse," Trefz said.

The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimates if the Medicaid work requirements bill became law, it would cost the state nearly $5 million in its first year of implementation and nearly $12 million in the second.

The scope of public assistance fraud is limited, according to state data. The investigations unit of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals has averaged 5,357 referrals involving the state's public assistance programs over the past 5 years.

Those investigation referrals do not mean that fraud was found, and a department data report published in December did not break down prosecutions. It's also unclear from the report how many people are on public assistance programs in Iowa, though roughly 617,000 people are enrolled in the state's Medicaid program.

Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, the ranking Democrat on the House Human Resources Committee, said the state data doesn't offer a compelling reason to drastically change the current system.

"It didn't seem like there was a lot of good information that was provided in any of the presentations ... that seemed to defend doing these bills," the Ames lawmaker told the Register.

Schultz said he's seen higher fraud figures from private companies that want state contracts to administer regular check-ins on Iowans on public assistance programs. He thinks hiring those private company would save the state money in the end.

Lundgren does not support a fourth bill that would add more periodic check-ins on eligibility for various public assistance programs including Medicaid and SNAP.

Schultz said he believes Iowans will support some money being spent to further police benefits programs because they are frustrated by the possibility that their tax dollars are going to those that have not earned them.

"I think the people of Iowa would support spending a little bit of tax dollars to make sure that their hard-earned tax dollars are spent well," Schultz said.