No Clear Path to Funding the Government

 

With only four legislative days left before the current continuing resolution funding the federal government expires on December 11, there remains no clear path to passage of an omnibus appropriations bill. 

 

An omnibus appropriations bill developed by House and Senate Republicans was rejected by Democrats and called "a non-starter" by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) because it is said to contain at least "30 poison pill" policy riders, which describes bill language that would result in rejection of a bill that is otherwise acceptable. In this case the riders would force the Administration to change its policies on Syrian immigrants, the environment, banks and investment companies, health care, and other programs important to the president. Even if the House and Senate passed the bill, it is certain that the president would veto the bill if it continued to include these riders.

 

Complicating the situation is the fact that the riders were added by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and not the appropriators, themselves. In situations like this, it is much more difficult for House members and senators to negotiate a solution unless they are given permission by the leadership, which does not seem to be forthcoming.

 

Despite this, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) remains optimistic that he and others on the House Appropriations Committee will be able to draft a bi-partisan omnibus appropriations bill that can pass the House and Senate and the president will sign.   

 

Failure to pass an omnibus appropriations bill that would fund the federal government through the end of fiscal year 2016 (September 30) would result in a government shutdown.

 

The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) will continue to keep its members informed about the appropriations process and what it may mean for state and local health and human services agencies.

OIG Releases Semiannual Report to Congress on Health and Human Service Programs

On November 30, 2015 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its Semiannual Report to Congress for the six-month period that ended September 30, 2015.

OIG's program integrity and oversight activities are shaped by legislative and budgetary requirements pursuant to the Inspector General Act of 1978 and are targeted to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the programs and operations of HHS.

OIG conducts program integrity and enforcement activities on the over 100 public health and human services programs to determine compliance with the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) as amended by the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPIA). In addition, under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, all programs receiving related funds must report and calculate an improper payment estimate.

In this newly released report OIG found that HHS followed guidance, "and in general, the methodologies used by HHS to estimate improper payments were reasonable and valid, resulting in reasonable estimates. HHS also reported information on its efforts to recapture improper payments and the results of those actions."

"However, HHS did not fully comply with several IPIA requirements in that it did not perform some risk assessments of payments; did not publish an improper payment estimate for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program; did not publish corrective action plans for TANF; did not meet improper payment rate reduction targets for four of the six programs for which it reported reduction targets in the FY 2013 AFR (Medicare Fee-for-Service [FFS], Medicaid, Foster Care, and Child Care Development Fund); and did not report an improper payment rate of less than 10 percent for one of the eight programs deemed susceptible to improper payments (Medicare FFS) and two of the seven programs deemed susceptible to improper payments under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act (Administration for Children and Families Social Services Block Grants and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Grants). In addition, HHS has not been in compliance with the IPIA for four consecutive FYs for TANF and three consecutive FYs for Medicare FFS."

The Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) Information and Technology (IT) infrastructure was reviewed and found vulnerable cyberattacks in two primary areas: selected external web applications and wireless networks. ACF's information technology investments include systems that support operations for grants management, child support enforcement, foster care and adoption programs, and Head Start programs. See the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Penetration Test of the Administration for child and Families' Computer Networks and External Web Applicationsreport completed in September 2015.

This report summarized OIG recommendations. Because of the sensitive nature of the information discussed, this report does not include the detailed recommendations that were provided directly to ACF. The administration concurred with all of OIG recommendations. ACF and OIG recognize that individual vulnerabilities may also signal systemic issues in a program or across multiple programs.

FNS Issues Guidance on SNAP ABAWDs

On November 19, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) distributed a memorandum guiding states on the implementation of policy applicable to able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) who are receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

ABAWDs are subject not just to work-seeking requirements but also to restrictions on their SNAP participation should they not be successful. This population is uniquely limited to three months SNAP participation in a 36 month period unless they participate in a work program (that may be actual work) for 80 hours per month or take part in workfare. The restriction applies whether or not they are offered employment-related services by their SNAP office.  

The policy carries complex administrative responsibilities for states, including the risk of incorrect issuances that may cost them payment errors. States have been largely free of these responsibilities because of waivers widely granted since the 2008 economic downturn. Many of the waivers will expire in 2016, so month-to-month tracking of SNAP participation by ABAWDs will now be necessary. The FNS memo covers the gamut of policy nuances and state responsibilities.

The FNS memo is posted at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/snap/ABAWD-Time-Limit-Policy-and-Program-Access-Memo-Nov2015.pdf