Nurseweek/Healthweek | Clinton administration and Texas governor battle over welfare privatization

Clinton administration and Texas governor battle over welfare privatization

posted 5-21-97

Efforts to allow for-profit corporations to run the Texas welfare system have been stymied by the Clinton administration. While not necessarily prohibiting Texas from privatizing welfare, the White House made it clear that state workers must continue to determine eligibility for welfare recipients.

The Texas Integrated Enrollment System, or TIES, was designed to be a "one-stop shopping" service, with private companies overseeing a refurbished network of social programs now managed by about 13,000 state employees. Employee unions have denounced the Texas effort for its potential impact on state jobs.

Some argue that the TIES program is only a massive privatization effort fueled by conservative lawmakers and their big business constituency. But supporters say the program could save state taxpayers as much as $10 million a month while improving access to Medicaid, food stamps, and other services for the needy.

"Currently we spend more on determining the eligibility for Health and Human Services programs than we do on cash benefits for AFDC families," said Ray Sullivan, spokesperson for Gov. George W. Bush.

Bush recently fired off a letter to Donna Shalala, PhD, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, complaining that the Clinton administration has not given a straight yes or no answer to the waiver request since it was submitted almost a year ago. "Texas will deem your failure to give us a clear answer ... for what it is, a bureaucratic and evasive way to tell us no," Bush wrote.

There are ways to move forward without federal approval, although with limitations to the original TIES plan, according to Sullivan. The Texas Legislature approved the privatization effort in 1995, and similar bills are in the works, he said.

Bush said Texas will continue to look for ways to achieve its goals, while White House officials said they plan to identify what parts of the welfare system private businesses can take over.