FISCAL NOTE

Date Requested: January 29, 2020
Time Requested: 02:10 PM
Agency: Attorney General, WV
CBD Number: Version: Bill Number: Resolution Number:
2551 Introduced HB4483
CBD Subject: Education (Higher)


FUND(S):

Special Revenue

Sources of Revenue:

Special Fund

Legislation creates:

Decreases Existing Revenue, Creates New Expense



Fiscal Note Summary


Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.


HB 4483, if passed, would continually remove all settlement funds from the Attorney General's Office, including the Consumer Protection Division fund and the Medicaid Fraud Control fund, to a new full-scholarship program. This would effectively defund the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division and remove the required state matching funds for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Consequently, the operations of Consumer Protection Division and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit would cease without new appropriations from the Legislature. (Also, this would be inconsistent with certain federal law requirements relative to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.)



Fiscal Note Detail


Effect of Proposal Fiscal Year
2020
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
2021
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost 0 4,700,000 4,700,000
Personal Services 0 0 0
Current Expenses 0 0 0
Repairs and Alterations 0 0 0
Assets 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
2. Estimated Total Revenues 0 0 0


Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):


The estimated total cost increase provided above represents the new appropriations that would be required to continue operating the Consumer Protection Division and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Providing specific numerical estimates of the bill's total impact in reducing revenue to the Attorney General's Office is impossible due to the language of the bill. The language of the bill is clear and absolute; all monies received by the Attorney General from any settlement would be transferred to a new scholarship fund. Every dollar in the Consumer Protection Division fund would be removed annually. This is true regardless of the actual cost of the new scholarship program. (The estimates provided by the Higher Education Policy Commission address only the forecasted cost of the new scholarship program, not the amount to be removed from the Attorney General's Office.) It is impossible to predict the size, scope, or frequency of future settlement (or their respective payment structures) or the fund balance at any point in the future. The only certainty is that the entirety of the Consumer Protection Division fund would be removed every year. This is equally true for settlement amounts received by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. (The Consumer Protection Division and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit utilize those settlement amounts to continue their operations.)



Memorandum


HB 4483, if passed, would repeal the existing fee waiver system for persons in the foster-care system and create a new full-scholarship program having, as its sole funding mechanism, the "[p]roceeds of any settlement received from any lawsuit initiated by the State Attorney General." That language would remove all settlement funds, regardless of their original source, from the Consumer Protection Division fund. The Attorney General receives spending authority to utilize the amounts in the Consumer Protection Division fund to pay for the operation of the Consumer Division. Because this bill would result in an annual reduction of the Consumer Protection Division fund to zero, there would be no funding for the Consumer Protection Division, and it would cease to function. (Alternatively, the Legislature would have to appropriate new dollars of funding from some other source to pay for the Consumer Protection Division's operations.) Additionally, HB 4483 would remove all settlement funds from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General's Office. This would create a similar funding gap as with the Consumer Protection Division. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives spending authority regarding the Medicaid Fraud Control fund, which contains settlement funds obtained by the Unit. This spending authority represents the state matching share (25%) of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit's budget as required by the federal grant that provides the vast majority of the Unit's funding (75%). The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, if this bill passed, would see its state funding source emptied. (This would also result in one or more violations of federal law regarding reimbursements to the federal government.)



    Person submitting Fiscal Note: Sam Curia
    Email Address: scuria@wvago.gov