RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, it has been recently questioned whether $1,000,000 in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funds, originally intended for anti-poverty programs, was properly spent in an anti-drug and alcohol abuse publicity campaign being run out of the Lieutenant Governor's office; and

WHEREAS, the Governor's office contends that federal funding guidelines allow the money to be used for the anti-drug campaign, which features decathlete Bryan Clay, singer Jasmine Trias, and surfer Bethany Hamilton; and

WHEREAS, the federal guidelines say the money must go to help poor families, promote self-sufficiency through job training and marriage, prevent unwanted pregnancies, and encourage the formation of two-parent families; and

WHEREAS, at a Senate Ways and Means committee hearing in early December, Lillian Koller, Director of Human Services, defended how the Department spends the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds, which are primarily used for federal assistance to the poor; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature is also concerned because the Department of Human Services and the Governor's office were using Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funds in place of state funds authorized for State Foundation for Culture and the Arts programs; and

WHEREAS, in July, 2004, the Governor cut $500,000 from the State Foundation on Culture and Arts biennium grants program budget that had been promised $1,100,000 by the Legislature; and

WHEREAS, after a public outcry, the Governor substituted Temporary Assistance to Needy Families federal dollars for the state money. The Governor used a portion of the money for youth service centers, which included money that previously came from the state culture and arts funds; and

WHEREAS, the federal government is also looking into how the State spends the federal money and has ordered a general audit of the anti-poverty program. On January 10, 2005, the federal Office of the Inspector General notified the State that an audit would be conducted later this month "to determine if costs incurred by the state under TANF in state fiscal years 2004 and 2005 complied with federal requirements"; and

WHEREAS, in an interview with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on January 18, 2005, Lillian Koller, the Director of Human Services, said that the Lingle administration was trying to find the "best ways to take advantage of the TANF money"; and

WHEREAS, in a report to the Legislature, Ms. Koller said the Lingle administration has been more creative than past state leaders in using the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funds. "This annual block grant has been available to the State for spending since July 1, 1997. However, for reasons that I do not fully comprehend, the prior administration and the Legislature did not expend the full amount, despite the hard economic times, and chose to eliminate important services for the poor that could have been funded," Koller said; and

WHEREAS, there is general agreement that funds appropriated by the Legislature for specific purposes should be expended for those purposes, and not others, by the administration, and there is a need to responsibly account for the expenditure of scarce anti-poverty funds; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a fiscal and management audit of the Department of Human Services and its use of federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funds; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor and the Department of Human Services are requested to fully cooperate with the Auditor in the conduct of the audit; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to report findings and recommendations, including any necessary proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Director of Human Services.

Report Title:

Fiscal/Management Audit; DHS Use of Federal TANF Funds