Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 2011 )


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    ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
    GREG        ABBOTT
    October 24, 2011
    The Honorable Susan Combs                                Opinion No. GA-0889
    Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
    Post Office Box 13528                                    Re: Whether the Medicaid and Public Assistance
    Austin, Texas 78711-3528                                 Fraud Oversight Task Force is an "advisory
    committee" within the meaning of chapter 2110 of
    the Government Code (RQ-0971-GA)
    Dear Comptroller Combs:
    You ask whether the Medicaid and Public Assistance Fraud Oversight Task Force (the "Task
    Force") is an "advisory committee" within the meaning of chapter 2110 of the Government Code. 1
    The Task Force was initially created2 in 1997 to "advise[] and assist[]" the Health and
    Human Services Commission ("HHSC") and the "commission's office of investigations and
    enforcement in improving the efficiency of fraud investigations and collections." TEX. GOV'TCODE
    ANN. § 531.107(a) (West 2004). The Task Force is composed of one representative each from the
    following state agencies: (1) Office of the Attorney General; (2) Office of the Comptroller; (3)
    Department of Public Safety; (4) Office of the State Auditor; (5) Health and Human Services
    Commission; (6) Department of Human Services; (7) Department oflnsurance; and (8) Department
    of Health. [d. § 531.107 (b). The Comptroller or her designee serves as the presiding officer of the
    Task Force. [d. § 53 1. 107(c).
    Chapter 2110 of the Government Code defines the term "advisory committee," for purposes
    of that chapter, to include a task force "that has as its primary function advising a state agency in the
    executive branch of state government." [d. § 2110.001 (West 2008) (emphasis added). You ask
    whether the Task Force is an "advisory committee" within the meaning of chapter 2110. Request
    Letter at 1. You suggest that the Task Force's enabling statute, chapter 531 of the Government
    Code, fails to designate the Task Force's "primary function." !d. at 2.
    1Letter from Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General
    of Texas (May 16, 2011), https://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinlindex_rq .shtml ("Request Letter").
    2Act of June 1, 1997, 75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1153, § 1.06(a), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4324, 4326-30.
    The Honorable Susan Combs - Page 2                 (GA-0889)
    In an earlier opinion, this office considered whether the Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory
    Council was subject to chapter 2110. Tex. Att'y Gen. LO-98-059. The opinion noted that the
    council's enabling statute, chapter 414 of the Government Code, prescribed five separate duties.
    Moreover, the opinion found that other provisions of chapter 414 added three additional duties. 
    Id. at 2-3.
    Like the council described in that opinion, the Task Force has been prescribed several duties.
    For example, as we have noted, the Task Force's enabling statute requires that it "advise[] and
    assist[]" the HHSC and the "commission's office of investigations and enforcement in improving
    the efficiency of fraud investigations and collections." Moreover, the Task Force may require the
    office of inspector general of the HHSC to provide "additional information" pursuant to section
    53 1. 107(f). See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 531.107(f) (West 2004). In addition, section 22.028 of
    the Human Resources Code authorizes the Task Force to inform the Comptroller, at her request,
    regarding the results of certain enforcement actions, specifically actions involving electronic benefits
    transfer systems within individual HHSC programs. See TEX. HUM. RES. CODE ANN. § 22.028(c)
    (West 2001). Finally, the Legislature in 2003 directed the Task Force to study procedures and
    documentation employed by the state to confirm the identities of persons seeking to establish
    entitlement to certain benefits. Under the 2003 law, the Task Force must "submit a report to the
    legislature containing recommendations for improvements in the procedures and documentation
    requirements.,,3 None of the relevant statutes indicate which of these duties constitute the Task
    Force's "primary function."
    We conclude that the Medicaid and Public Assistance Fraud Oversight Task Force is not an
    "advisory committee," and as a result, chapter 2110 of the Government Code does not apply to the
    Task Force.
    3See Act ofJune 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 198, § 2.143, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 611, 706; Act of May 10,
    2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 257, § 19,2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 1163, 1170.
    The Honorable Susan Combs - Page 3          (GA-0889)
    SUMMARY
    The Medicaid and Public Assistance Fraud Oversight Task
    Force is not an "advisory committee," and as a result, chapter 2110
    of the Government Code does not apply to the Task Force.
    DANIEL T. HODGE
    First Assistant Attorney General
    DAVID J. SCHENCK
    Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel
    JASON BOATRIGHT
    Chair, Opinion Committee
    Rick Gilpin
    Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee
    

Document Info

Docket Number: GA-0889

Judges: Greg Abbott

Filed Date: 7/2/2011

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 2/18/2017