Is the Texas Medicaid fraud oversight task force an 'advisory committee' under chapter 2110?

Plain-English summary

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs asked the Attorney General a classification question: is the Medicaid and Public Assistance Fraud Oversight Task Force an "advisory committee" under chapter 2110 of the Government Code? The label matters because chapter 2110 imposes its own rules (on things like how advisory committees operate and report) on bodies that fit its definition.

The Task Force was created in 1997 to advise and assist the Health and Human Services Commission and its investigations-and-enforcement office in making fraud investigations and collections more efficient. It is made up of one representative each from eight state agencies, with the Comptroller or her designee as presiding officer. Chapter 2110 defines an "advisory committee" to include a task force "that has as its primary function advising a state agency in the executive branch." The Comptroller pointed out that the Task Force's enabling statute, chapter 531, does not designate the Task Force's "primary function."

The opinion looked at an earlier opinion about the Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory Council, whose enabling statute prescribed multiple duties. Like that council, the Task Force has several prescribed duties beyond advising: it may require the HHSC inspector general's office to provide additional information, it informs the Comptroller on request about the results of certain electronic-benefits-transfer enforcement actions, and a 2003 law directed it to study identity-verification procedures and report recommendations to the Legislature. Because the Task Force carries several duties and no statute identifies advising as its "primary function," the opinion concluded the Task Force is not an "advisory committee," so chapter 2110 does not apply to it.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2011. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

The Comptroller and the Task Force (as the opinion held for them): The opinion answered that the Task Force is not an "advisory committee" under chapter 2110, so the requirements that chapter places on advisory committees did not govern the Task Force.

On the reasoning (as the opinion described it): The opinion treated the multiplicity of the Task Force's statutory duties, with none singled out as its "primary function," as the reason it did not fit the chapter 2110 definition, which keys on a body whose primary function is advising a state agency.

Other multi-duty state bodies (as the opinion described the rule): The opinion's analysis followed an earlier opinion treating a council with several prescribed duties as outside chapter 2110, suggesting that a task force with assorted statutory functions and no designated advising-as-primary role is not an "advisory committee."

Common questions

Is the Medicaid fraud oversight task force covered by chapter 2110?
According to the opinion, no. The Task Force is not an "advisory committee" within chapter 2110, so the chapter does not apply to it.

What makes something an "advisory committee" under chapter 2110?
The opinion pointed to the statutory definition: a body, including a task force, whose primary function is advising a state agency in the executive branch.

Why isn't the Task Force an advisory committee if it advises HHSC?
The opinion explained that the Task Force has several prescribed duties beyond advising and that no statute designates advising as its primary function, so it does not meet the definition.

Background and statutory framework

The Task Force was created in 1997 to advise and assist HHSC and its office of investigations and enforcement in improving the efficiency of fraud investigations and collections. Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 531.107(a) (West 2004). It is composed of representatives from eight state agencies, id. § 531.107(b), with the Comptroller or her designee presiding, id. § 531.107(c). It may require the HHSC office of inspector general to provide additional information, id. § 531.107(f) (West 2004), and it informs the Comptroller, on request, about results of certain electronic-benefits-transfer enforcement actions, Tex. Hum. Res. Code Ann. § 22.028(c) (West 2001).

Chapter 2110 defines an "advisory committee" to include a task force whose primary function is advising a state agency in the executive branch. Id. § 2110.001 (West 2008). Because the Task Force has several prescribed duties and no statute designates advising as its primary function, the opinion concluded it is not an "advisory committee" and chapter 2110 does not apply.

Citations

Statutes:

• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 531.107(a) (West 2004)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 531.107(b)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 531.107(c)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 531.107(f) (West 2004)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 2110.001 (West 2008)
• Tex. Hum. Res. Code Ann. § 22.028(c) (West 2001)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/greg-abbott/ga-0889
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2011/ga0889.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official PDF. Minor extraction artifacts were corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

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 created[2] 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'T CODE 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 of Insurance; and (8) Department of Health. Id. § 531.107(b). The Comptroller or her designee serves as the presiding officer of the Task Force. Id. § 531.107(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." Id. § 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." Id. at 2.

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 531.107(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.

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.

Very truly yours,

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

[1] Letter 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/opin/index_rq.shtml ("Request Letter").

[2] Act of June 1, 1997, 75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1153, § 1.06(a), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4324, 4326-30.

[3] See Act of June 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.