Print 🖨

The House Committee on Appropriations met to take up testimony on: Correctional Managed Health Care, Border Security, Drivers License Program, Trustees Programs including Governor’s School Safety Plan, and the Texas Child Support Enforcement System Project.

This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

Trusteed Programs

Jordyn Hale, Office of the Governor

  • Introduction – The trusteed programs include:
    • Goal A: Grant assistance and programs. Disaster Funds; Agency Grant Assistance; Disability Issues; Women’s Groups; and, State Federal Relations.
    • Goal B: Criminal justice activities. Consists of the public safety office, which works on criminal justice grants, homeland security grants, and child sex trafficking.
    • Goal C: Economic development and tourism strategy.
  • Munoz – What is the total amount of money for grants in the governor’s office?
    • The total appropriation is $1.2 billion, $603 million of that are the federal funds.
  • Munoz – Compared to the last biennium, what percentage increase in funds has the office asked?
    • We asked what was appropriated to us last session. We do have exceptional items, not included in HB1, such as the create jobs and promote Texas strategy.
  • Munoz – Representative asked for breakdown in grants awarded to the state.
    • Will provide regional breakdown as to every grant that has been awarded.
  • Munoz – Does the office of international trade work hand in hand with any type of promotion that TDA does in terms of international trade?
    • That is separate, our office is in Mexico City. We contract that out to a vendor who provides services related to our economic development.
  • Munoz – Is that office tasked with promoting international trade in addition to working with local partners, such as cities with international bridges that are advocating for increased funding for commerce?
    • We do maintain an office in Mexico City and have an office in Austin who does work in regard to international trade. It is not limited to Mexico, although they are our largest trade partner. Our work is typically with business who are looking at investing money in Texas in terms of creating jobs or manufacturing and selling products.
  • Munoz – Who is the contact person for the international trade office in Austin?
    • Brian Daniel
  • Toth – The amount available for disaster funding relative to the amount being requested, how are we doing there in terms of this biennium.
    • In this biennium, we are at $55 million, it got down to $10 million right before this appropriation cycle. Most of our money was related to Hurricane Harvey.
  • Toth – In this biennium, how are we doing relative to the need.
    • We are okay in terms of cash balance, but it depends on what comes in.
  • Toth – Can those funds be used for proactive things to prevent flooding in the future?
    • We have flexibility in the use of disaster funds, however, historically they are used to respond to disasters.
  • Howard – Asked for insight in regard to the back log in sexual assault cases.
    • We currently have the sexual assault prevention money. We have accumulated $100 thousand in that account. Only Harris county has applied for those funds, but we have reopened the application and are accepting request. As far as the backlog, DPS would need to give you that information.
  • Howard – Are you proactively doing something to get labs to apply for these funds?
    • We are actively reaching out to try and get labs to apply for the funds.
  • Howard – Points out that the backlog in sexual assault cases is an issue important to the state. Asked if the Sexual Assault Services Program and the Victims of Crime Act are connected to the effort.
    • The Victims of Crime Act is a large fund source, it is specifically dedicated for services to victims of crime. It cannot be used for the backlog in sexual assault cases. The Sexual Assault Services Program is a prevention related fund source, which is filtered through the Texas Association of Sexual Assault.
  • Howard – Points out that these funds are federal funds. Asked for insight on previous funds awarded.
    • The most recent award from the Office of Violence Against Women for the Sexual Assault Prevention fund was around $969 thousand. The most recent award for the Victims of Crime Act was $284 million.
  • Howard – Points out that there is a 5% administrative allowance in these funds.
  • Howard – Emphasized the seriousness of the issue and importance of pending money wisely to help sexual assault victims.
  • Sherman – Rep. asked how funds work and how they are appropriated, as it relates to the Economic Development Enterprise Zone and the Texas Leverage Fund.
    • The leverage program is a bonded fund. We are authorized to make loans to communities based on their ability to collect local sales tax. For smaller communities, they do not accumulate enough funds to make large scale development projects. Our loans allow these communities to do these types of development projects.
  • Sherman – On the Economic Enterprise Zone Funding. Are those loans encumbered with interest?
    • Leverage fund, yes, the interest varies based on the market conditions.
    • The leverage fund has a slight statutory issue, that needs to be address. We have not made loans recently through this program because we need to see a legislative fix. If we continue to make loans going forward, the issue is that is a master resolution needs to be addressed.
    • The Enterprise zone program is a sales tax rebate program. We identify applicant companies to receive sales tax rebates based on job retention and creation.
  • Sherman – Asked for a copy of the master resolution required to address the statutory issue.

 

Correctional Managed Healthcare

Susannah Paul, LBB

  • 2 graphs the adult incarceration population and operation capacity.
    • Population is projected to remain stable and below capacity.
  • 3 graphs the adult parole population.
    • This population is also projected to remain stable over the projection period.
  • 4 graphs the adult felony community supervision population.
    • This population is also projected to remain stable.
  • 5 graphs the adult misdemeanor community supervision placements.
    • These placements are projected to decrease 18.3% from 2019-2024.
  • 6 shows the TJJD actual and projected state residential average daily population and operating capacity.
    • The average population for juveniles committed to TJJD is projected to increase 1.8% per year over the next 5 years.
  • 7 shows juvenile parole projections.
    • Juvenile parole population is expected to increase 1.5% per year over the next 5 years.
  • 8 shows juveniles under supervision projections.
    • Predicts that the juvenile supervision population will remain stable because, after the school shootings from last year, referrals for assault and terroristic threats have increased.
  • Wu – Your statement is that because of the shootings last year, the number of threats has gone up? Or is it that the schools have been more active to responding to threats of any type?
    • We have had an increase in referrals for assault and terroristic threats to the Juvenile probation department.
  • Wu – Your statement was that because of the school shootings, the number of incidents created by students has gone up. Which is different from schools referring more kids who they otherwise would not have.
    • When we saw this increase, we asked policy makers and practitioners, why this is happening. They told us that after the school shootings, they saw a lot of individuals making threats to schools. As soon as one kid brought a gun, ten more kids brought a gun.
  • Wu – we have had many school shootings in the past but have not seen an increase until very recently. It is hard for me to believe that our kids change dramatically because they saw someone else making threats.
  • 9 – As part of our projections, we go out to the field and talk to policy makers and practitioners and ask them what trends they are seeing. These are their insights.
  • 10 – 11 highlights recidivism and revocation rates for adult and juvenile cohorts.
  • Toth – Is the LBB measuring recidivism the same way the corrections TDCJ does?
    • I am not familiar with their rates, but we do get our data from them, as well as TDP and TDJC.
  • Minjarez – Asked for data on the 2nd bullet point under Juvenile Justice Findings on page 9.
    • When we talk to different policy makers, they gave us these statements but did not provide us specific numbers.
  • Minjarez – Did you meet with the Dept of CPS specifically on this statement?
    • No, we did not.
  • Sheffield – On page 9, the first two bullet points on inpatient outpatient mental health and substance abuse, are the participants saying the need more services? And/or are they forecasting outcomes that need these services.
    • We saw both.
    • This was a comment we heard from individuals within and out of the system.
  • Sheffield – Their recommendation is that the legislature funds more on these programs, but what happens if we do that?
    • What we heard as that there should be consideration for additional resources.
  • Sheffield – Are they talking about shorter jail occupancy stays, less commitments to TDCJ, or do they just want more?
    • I do not remember.
  • Johnson – How do we get to these predictions when there are moves to have criminal justice reforms?
    • Our projections are on current policies and statues, any changes would be factored into future projections.
  • Johnson – Has there been a massive change in your numbers from past criminal justice reform?
    • SB103 caused a huge change to the criminal justice system in January 2007, and we had to make provisions to our projections.
  • Johnson – If the projections change, did the budget change as well?
    • I will have to follow up.
  • Johnson – For offenses that are made while being incarcerated, are these included in your numbers?
    • We measure recidivism on the day they are released. So, if they commit an offense before they are released, the answer is no.
  • Johnson – when you project your numbers, do you project the number of people who are recommitted because of another offense.
    • We look at each population separately. So, if an individual commits an offense while incarcerated, we know how long or when they would be eligible for parole. We do take these numbers into consideration.
  • Wu – Pre-trial diversion is the ability for a probation/prosecution give a juvenile a slap on the wrist and not have to go to court. There is an issue that since it does not go to court, we do not give funding to the state.
  • Is there funding in the state budget that goes to pre-trial diversion programs?
    • Last legislative session, we got some funding.
  • Wu – Pre-trial diversion can end up saving the state money, instead of running him through court settings, formal probation, trials.
    • Yes, roughly.
  • Wu – The counties can save a lot of money by not having court hearings after court hearings, can save money from not having them in prison.
  • Wu – The pre-trial diversion programs are funded by local counties.
    • On the juvenile side, there are certain line items to fund different types of programs. Locals can use that money however they want.
  • Wu – From my understanding, mostly it is the larger counties that are funding their juvenile diversion programs.
    • No answer.
  • Longoria – what I have seen is that are is a fee for being placed on pre-trial diversion, where are those fees going to?
    • We will have to follow up with the agency.
  • Longoria – I want to know where this funding goes.
  • Wilson – on Pg. 9 can you provide us a breakdown of current funding and metrics of best practices and values. And expand on terms of funding needs for educational services for juveniles.
    • I can provide you a history of funding for these types of services. We can work on that request and get something to the committee.
  • Toth – Additional resources to treat chronic. What type of resources are you looking for?
    • When you talk to practitioners on the field, we hear that the individuals are harder to supervise. They are looking for resources for this need.
    • There are a number of programs
  • Toth – how are we doing as far as accommodating people to volunteer at local prisons. If there is any kind of dashboard to get people to help others
    • There are all kinds of volunteers, the agency can provide you with more details.
  • Toth – we tried to make it easier for people to come in on weekends to provide programs. Do we have any kind of dashboard in place for people to come in?
    • The agency can give you more information.
  • 10 – Cost report, figures are based on agency reports (review archive)
  • Wilson – tell me why such a large increase from 456 -479
    • This was because of a decrease in population, decrease in admission, and agency policy to review case files.
  • Wilson – have we taken a look of closed facilities and retention of those and
    • This is something the leg has reviewed.
  • Wilson – are maintenance cost highlighted even if facilities are not used
    • Yes, traditionally,

 

Bryan Collier, Texas Department of Criminal Justice 

  • Howard – we had someone contact our office about parole offices and pay and caseload, what is the turnover rate you are experiencing.
    • Just under/over 20%.
  • What is the average caseload?
    • 120? Will Review
  • The exceptional item requests
  • Review archive for TDJC testimony
  • Toth – recidivism rate between state jail, felonies, and prison.
    • State is closer to, state is
  • Wilson – Can you provide with what you are teaching in educational vocational programs and best value practices?
    • Yes
  • Toth – do we have more facilities like Giddings?
  • Toth – why are we not following people beyond three years.
    • Recidivism happens between those years, more often than not.
  • Johnson –
    • If an offender has a pending case/misdemeanor,
  • Cortez – I had a chance to visit with officials from the Windham district, I noticed any of the work they are doing is not included.
    • In terms of time, I did not include it in my presentation. They….
  • Minjarez – 104 prison facilities, how many count women.
    • 13
  • Minjarez – are there any facilities that house co-ed?
    • We have one treatment facility that houses both, but not in our facilities.
  • Minjarez – have you put in a request for pregnant women cost?
    • I can get you the budget number of what we spend
  • Smith – on slide three, is that average length of judgement or stay?
    • Judgement
  • Smith – Is an individual on parole eligible for health care from the state?
    • No
  • Smith – Is there a difference in the length of stay for someone who has a chronic disease vs who does not
    • Not usually, there are exceptions made by our board.
  • Wilson – How many closed facilities do have in our system?
    • Two, still under their control and two undergoing through sale process in GLO
  • Wilson – what is annual maintenance cost?
    • Minimal but will get that number

 

Border Security & Drivers License Program

Colonel Steven McCraw and Staff, Department of Public Safety

  • Only legislature that dedicated money to amplify security at the border, reports border is secure
  • There are still challenges to be met – HB 1 requests reflect that
    • Much of that funding is about salaries and leveraging technology
  • Mission is to proactively engage and use science, what has worked in the past
  • 2014-2017 have seen 59% reduction of drugs in many boarder counties, both at the port and around port of entry
  • 90% reduction in drugs at border checkpoints
  • Reduction in bailouts, bailouts are being pushed closer to the river
  • Rio Grande Valley has become safer than other parts of the state
  • Because of expanded enforcement pay and other things the legislature has done in the past, DPS has been able to perform crime prevention efforts, in Houston, San Antonio, etc.
  • Walle – In 16-17 the legislature appropriated $200m for this prevention work, what wah the base before?
    • Suzy Whittenton, CFO – I do not have that number with me
    • Walle – Would it be accurate to say we exponentially increased the DPS and border security budget?
    • McCraw – Yes that is accurate.
    • Walle – Are you asking for an additional 250 troopers this cycle?
    • McCraw – No we are asking for what we already have.
    • Walle – In the first cycle did all of those 250 troopers go to border security?
    • McCraw – Yes
    • Walle – So before that increase in funding bringing troopers in from other locations to bring them down to the border?
    • McCraw – Yes, and it was not cost effective to do that, so the troopers have now been put there permanently.
    • Walle – There are very different cultures and languages form Houston, north Texas, and the Valley, did those troopers who went there get training?
    • McCraw – Yes they get training on priorities and what matters in those areas.
    • Walle – You purchased all the hardware, boats, planes, etc. in 2016 correct?
    • McCraw – Yes
    • Walle – Is funding for maintenance of that hardware included in HB 1?
    • McCraw – Yes maintenance is included as well as an exceptional item for the replacement of some equipment.
    • Walle – What specifically were the extra troopers we sent to the border doing and did the taxpayer get what they wanted in terms of being able to quantify the effect of the 250 troopers who were sent there?
    • McCraw – Having the additional troopers allows local troopers to remain in their communities. We did not put them all down there immediately, there needed to be an assimilation time.
    • Walle – What were the troopers doing in Star County and the surrounding area?
    • McCraw – We are making it more difficult for cartels to move drugs through the Valley and into Houston and San Antonio. We used wildlife cameras with motion sensors, any time there is a detection, troopers can see a radius and a picture of the smuggling event, which reduces the amount of patrolling around that needs to be done. It helps us work smarter with fewer resources.
    • Walle – You mentioned the border was secure, is that accurate/
    • McCraw – The border is not secure, I believe I said that I wished it were secure.
    • Walle – Would you agree the border is more secure than in the past?
    • McCraw – Yes I believe it is more secure than 10 years ago.
    • Walle – Is that due to the $800m the Texas legislature has put into this or the recent increase in Federal assistance in border security?
    • McCraw – It is both.
    • Walle – Ports-of-entry is mainly a federal responsibility, have we ever been asked to be reimbursed for our efforts there?
    • McCraw – Yes there was recently a letter from the Speaker.
  • Wilson – It is hard to quantify deterrence, are there any metrics in terms of commercial vehicle violations being lower as a result of increased border security efforts?
    • McCraw – It is safer in the Valley than in other areas of the state, especially in the Permian. The additional troopers on the border mean we are down 177 commissioned officers in other parts of the state. We would do a better job with measurement if we were NIBERS compliant.
    • Wilson – Commercial vehicle inspectors, do you believe with an increase in your force do you believe you will be able to put more on the road?
    • McCraw – We are prioritizing resources where the most pressing problems are. One thing we can do is extra training for some of our local partners so they can do truck inspections, it would be a win-win for communities, and they state.
  • Johnson – You gave us numbers that said we are doing a good job with the extra $800m from the last biennium, but we are hearing from the Feds it is a national emergency at the border. We as a state bear a lot of the responsibility for border security, what was the percentage of drugs and illegals we stopped? And second question, what would be the effect of a wall?
    • McCraw – We don’t really know the percentage we stopped because we don’t know what got through that we didn’t stop, all we can measure is that it is less than what it used to be based on what has been seized. We also know we had an impact on crime in that area. That is based on outside data, not DPS data.
    • McCraw – From a wall standpoint we are neutral and all we do is implement. But from an infrastructure standpoint I like what Laredo and Hidalgo County have done, for a structure that both serves as a wall and benefits the community. The more pressing problem is a lack of border personnel. We look with Northwestern University every 2 years to determine what the optimal number of troopers is.
  • We are not staffed adequately and will submit funding needs in order to secure border and cities.
  • Need funds, so we can deal with current and future threats.
  • Toth- U.S Border patrol stated that the high-water mark was in 2014 for illegal crossings.
    • Last week was the highest week in the past 10 years for illegal crossings in Texas- 9,300 plus just in Texas.
  • Toth- Tells story about the communities by the border and how the drug cartels have taken over. How much of the cost are Texas tax payers spending because the federal government is not securing it for us? How much are we putting into the border instead of being spend in the woodlands or Houston?
    • The state legislature has taken leadership roll and there is an impact in the communities.
    • As long as the federal government has a policy that will allow people to declare asylum from central America there is no disincentive for them to leave.
    • Maverick County has 3,200 caravans that are arriving in the next 2 days.
  • Toth- A number of times a child will come across the border and we cannot finger print them if they are under the age of 14. U.S. border patrol said that people will rent a child and then be sent back to the south to bring another adult to the U.S.
    • From a federal standpoint they are not allowed to fingerprint under 14.
    • They are prohibited from even interviewing them if they are under 14.
  • Toth- U.S. Border patrol acknowledged that they need new technology, boots on the ground, and infrastructure. Where there is infrastructure, do we need to commit less boots on the ground?
    • It depends on the infrastructure in the areas.
    • If they can quickly enter the roadways there is little we can do.
  • Stuckey- Border Patrol is complementary of DPS working with you. Infrastructure doesn’t stop them, but it slows them down. They need the boots on the ground and aerostats allow border patrol to determine who is entering the border.
    • Most problematic issue for border patrol is the salt cedar, because it sucks water out of the Rio Grande. This allows people to cross more easily.
  • Walle- I want to clarify the 9,000 folks that were apprehend in 2014.
    • The number was 9,500 plus in 2015 and 9,300 plus last week.
  • Walle-Those folks were turning those people in correct?
    • Yes
  • Walle-Mostly were women and children?
    • Yes
  • Walle- I want to clarify that those women and children are using existing federal laws, is that not correct?
    • I would say they are. They are leveraging asylum.
  • Walle-They are using the means the federal government has set in place.
    • They look for a border patrol agent when they cross the border.
  • Walle-Refugees get a credible fear interview before they enter. Wanted to clarify that folks were mostly women and children, but also are using existing federal statutes.
    • We are dealing with illegal aliens, drug cartels, and international
  • Smith- Are you seeing any objective signs of success? – Microphone cut out
    • There is no system in place in order to determine the cost of drugs.
    • Mexican cartels are very adaptive, and we see 94.5 pounds fentanyl coming across the border, enough to kill 21 million people.
    • In 2016/2017, the numbers were dramatically down, because Texas stepped up on borer security.
  • Smith- The DEA said the price of a coyote has gone up, have you noticed this?
    • We have not noticed that.
  • Smith- They commented to me that it had been $5,000 per person and now it is $8,000 to $9,000.
  • Muñoz- What is the overall budget for the department?
    • 4 billion without disaster funds.
  • Muñoz is that what I would cost us to operate the operation going forward
  • Muñoz- How dangerous is the border?
    • You are far safer in Hidalgo county than in other parts of the state.
    • If you talk to mayor in Rio Grande city, life has changed, and the statistics reflect that.
  • Muñoz- What could we do then to improve communication between the agency and law enforcement, because there are always debates about statistics.
    • DPS collects the statistics from all agencies and report those to the FBI.
    • The FBI is going to enact technology that spreads information better in 2021.
  • Muñoz- A lot of the work is policy driven and people have different views to what the agenda should be. The challenge we face is being safe in Hidalgo county, then we must fight the media and allegations that we have tractor trailers and people swimming across the rivers. We are trying to determine if those things are happening, which you said they are not. What we hear from y’all, sometimes does not happen and we do not witness it.
  • Muñoz- For this coming biennium, would you ask the department to create a 50-hour work week for the 500 troops stationed at the border?
    • Yes, sir
  • Toth- Can you describe increase have you seen in fentanyl apprehensions?
    • Seen increases and the most recent seizure was in Arizona.
  • Toth- Some of my constituents are not happy with how the federal government prescribes opioids to people.
  • Zerwas- People will find pain relief one way or another. We are working with the Attorney General on a bill like this, so we are not inadvertently moving people, addicts, to fentanyl which is cheaper.
  • Turner- For future reference, you have mentioned different crime reduction statistics. Is there a report or document you would refer us to that shows the reductions?
    • Yes, sir.
  • License drivers represent 50 percent of the funds we need.
  • If the program is going to be successful, we need the money.
  • We recommend that the term of the driver’s license goes from 6 to 8 years.
  • First, we need to pay the workers in terms of a salary and compensate them appropriately.
    • The job used to be done by a trooper and we pay $26,000 to civilians who now work at the positions. Our turnover rate is 30%.
  • Second, full staff the offices in rural and urban areas.
    • Mega-Centers have many counters and only have 4 to 5 workers at a counter.
    • $230 million is essential.
    • Then we need $190 million dollars to expand facilities in different areas.
  • Stucky- We have a growing population in Denton, and we will have 3 million by 2030. A majority of the offices are leased in order to get things going quickly. How do you rate where the next offices go in?
    • Bids that come in are outside of DPS’ control.
    • State owned facilities have a higher upfront cost and take 24 months for them to become useful to the community.
  • Stucky- How can we get out there to promote older people to go online and reduce the lines?
    • We did a survey in the fall and 91 percent of people who completed the poll knew about online survey but came in anyway.
    • The survey showed us that 22 percent wanted a new photo, 19 percent did not want to share personal info online, 19 percent wanted to talk in person, and 13 percent did not want to pay extra
    • 52 percent of people who could do an online transaction still came into the offices
  • Stucky- What is your opinion on DPS or DMV providing licenses to the public?
    • I know it can be successful at DPS.
    • People need to be paid and there needs to be properly staffed offices.
  • Longoria- There was an audit from state auditor’s office in December. Can you outline the deficiencies they found, and show do you plan to fix that?
    • High risk transactions only look and identified that 39 of the documents were visible for not completing some of the required.
    • Looking at how to expand the reviews and we are trying to do more with less right now.
  • Bell- During the 84th legislative session, there was an opportunity for counties to partner with the DPS, correct?
    • There are 11 counties/cities that use the program.
    • They produce 3.1 transactions per office
    • We have not seen interest in the counties.
  • Bell-How are those counties compensated?
    • They are eligible for a $5.00 transaction fee.
  • Buckley- Does this request contemplate additional training to provide more efficient and timely service?
    • The training takes 7 weeks.
  • Muñoz- On the report, in 2012-2016 there was a diversion of $8 million from drivers licenses to other agendas. Where was the money used?
    • That did not happen. We told the sunset that there was an error.
  • Muñoz- In fiscal year 2017, 7 million dollars were unused, why?
    • There was a salary lapse because of the turnover rate
    • It is money we want to spend but haven’t.
  • Muñoz- Last year the issue of looking at what offices need to open or close, does the agency have authority to fund other offices?
    • Can’t move anybody out of driver’s licenses. We can move money in, but not out.

 

John Montgomery, LBB

  • Introduces documents from the Attorney General’s office.
  • T2 system seeks to improve the system that came in the 1990s.
  • It is a large project that is made of multiple different contracts.
  • The project is 15 months behind.
  • The budget is $419.6 million dollars.
  • T2 will not be ready for the March release date.
  • Discusses a brief timeline which includes a start date in January 2007 and a deferral funding freeze in 2015, which made us amend some things for the project.
  • Bell- This contract started out at 69.8 million?
    • Yes
  • Slide 5 describes oversights that have occurred throughout the project.
  • T2 executive steering committee was formed and meets monthly.
    • Includes people from OAG, the Attorney General’s office, and LBB.
  • Bell- In 2016 it was renegotiated, and they still don’t think they are going to finish on time. Are they going to finish on budget, or is there another bump in cost?
    • There is no real, clear answer.
    • There is a wide variety of other contracts that support that.
  • Bell- Are there penalties in the renegotiated aspect?
    • There are no penalties, but there are holdbacks.
    • There is a $5 million and $15 million holdback until the federal government checks off on the project.
    • The final deliverable has a price tag and $15 million is held back until it is finished.
  • Capriglione- What release dates did the October 2010 schedule show?
    • There were 3 release dates.
    • Phase 3 release date would have been in December 2017.
  • Capriglione- When the federal government froze the project things were reset. Were there any change orders made?
    • That was the main reason for the amendment.
  • Capriglione- Because of those change orders there were additional costs, correct?
  • Capriglione- Reads a portion from the Accenture hearings from the last 84 legislature. I think the state of Texas is owed money, because Accenture stated that the expenses were supposed to be paid by them.
  • The system will not be ready by March 2019, because of performance issues within the system, ongoing defects that has already been delivered, and the core software has lost vender support.
  • Bell- Can you elaborate on the lost vendor support for the platform?
    • Java lost vender support in 2017, because the Java 1.6 version had a compatibility issue and did not meet the security standards.
    • Java 1.8 will be equipped for the system and security.
  • Bell- Are there any compatibility problems?
    • The Attorney General could speak into more detail about that.
  • Bell- Sounds like we are further behind then we think we are.
    • The compatibility issue is more of a security issue.
  • Howard- We were told that this was going to be less expensive to keep funding, then to start over. It has been a decade, and this is an unusable product.
    • It is a useable product, but there is a latency issue.
  • Howard- What is the total amount we have spent?
    • The State Government has spent 124.9 million.
    • The Federal government has spent 242.6 million.
    • The overall cost is $367.5 million.
  • Howard- Are we at a point where we should just cut our loses?
    • That is a path forward that we must discuss.
  • Johnson- How much money have we collected?
    • $4.3 billion
  • Johnson- So, we have spent 25 percent?
    • No, 8 or 9 percent.
  • Wilson- How much did the systemic project cost?
    • $419.6 is our total budget, and we have only spent $367.5 million.
  • Wilson- Were these contracts awarded on a best value?
    • Technical capability, price, and ability to complete the work were all looked at.
  • Wilson- I heard the other day we didn’t consider cost? Because Accenture was the only one?
  • Capriglione- If I were to look up vender performance what would I see?
    • I don’t believe there is one for this project yet.
  • Capriglione- So, a part of the reason the government put in two thirds was to use this software for other states?
  • Bell- First, I would like to see Accenture here. Second, it is statutory that the performance reviews are not put in until the end. It would be beneficial on these protracted contracts to have milestone update to see if these venders are performing or not.
  • VanDeaver- The subcommittee will be able to dive deeper.
    • Other supporting contracts might increase our total budget.
  • Bell- You mentioned it might get larger. Are the feds off-putting some of the cost?
    • The Feds would also have a roll in approving the extension and would have to share the cost.

 

Jeff Mateer and Mara Friesen, Attorney General’s Office

  • Our collections in Texas continue to rise and we collected 4.3 billion dollars for the last year.
  • There was a 4 percent increase over the past year.
  • Reiterates many statements John Montgomery from the LBB discussed about the T2 program.
    • Amendment number 2 strengthened the responsibilities of the vendor.
    • The vendor must hit critical milestones. Before the vender is paid certain things must happen.
    • Holdbacks are counted at $20 million.
  • There has been substantial progress.
  • This is a highly complex system, but it does have function.
  • OAG and vendors have sat in a room and there is functionality to the system.
  • Bell- What is the Attorney General’s plan to address the underlying problem to the program?
    • We commissioned an upgrade analysis to occur in March 2018 which revealed that some of the software was not complete.
    • There is a plan to upgrade Java 1.6 to Java 1.8.
    • This project requires 104 different kinds of software for the system.
  • Bell- Do the Amendments lay out clear dates?
    • We expect the vendor to comply with the terms of the project.
    • Amendments had a go live date which was originally December 2018.
    • Amendment 2 extended it to March 4, 2019, because the federal government required new forms and new requirements.
    • In addition, there is an expected delivery date that is August 31, 2019.
    • Then there is the end of a contract that is August 31, 2020.
    • If the vendor does not deliver by go live date, they forfeit 340,000 thousand a week until it is delivered.
  • Bell- This will be withheld from whatever you owed them?
    • The payments would be deducted from the amounts owed.
    • A holdback is a better way to describe it.
  • Longoria- When do you think the T2 will actually go live?
    • That is an excellent question.
    • As I mentioned, they are not going to make the go live date.
    • The question is if they are going to make the delivery date.
  • Longoria- So, there is no date for when they will go live?
    • We are in joint system testing and we required them that we will not take the system live, until we are guaranteed it will work.
    • We heard Massachusetts went live and had issues regarding security and payments not being made.
    • We need to make sure there is a system that works and will not go live until it does.
    • We are 97 percent through joint system testing and Accenture identified 1,000 errors from the joint system testing.
    • The system needs to be able to accommodate 4,000 users at a time, we need immediate response time.
  • Longoria- When was technology added in?
    • 2010 is when Accenture entered.
  • Longoria-We are 9 years removed, and I do not know we can ever put it together. What do you think?
    • We have a product with functionality. It is just not completely there.
  • Longoria-Can the state cancel the project?
    • Yes, that is an option.
  • Capriglione- What did Amendment 1 do?
    • Amendment 1 was a reset of the contract.
    • We did not have an A-Z contract before the amendment and we now have one.
    • The key component was federal certification.
    • The vendor is now required to give us a federally funded system.
    • The federal government wants this to succeed, because this will be a model to the rest of the country.
  • Capriglione- That should be a part of every IT contract we get into. A lot of our contracts have not conformed to A-Z. Going forward, we need to make sure standard contractional requirements need to be included. The system is nice, but I do not know if this system is $400 million nice. We need to make sure that the state makes sure there is an Amendment 1 in every contract.
    • The Attorney General, contract lawyers, federal partners, the LBB, and the steering committee were all looking through the contract.
  • Toth- Hasn’t Accenture shown they are not able to perform?
    • In parts, but our system has functionality.
  • Toth- I am shocked Accenture isn’t here. This is a rip off of the Texas taxpayers. Why aren’t they here?
    • Zerwas- They are not here, because they were not invited.
  • Howard- It is costing us in the long run, and we are so far behind technologically. We need good data and we do not have that yet.
  • Zerwas- I look forward to what the subcommittee will look at and they will be able to take a deeper dive into it.

 

ENDED