FISCAL NOTE



FUND(S):

New Fund

Sources of Revenue:

Special Fund

Legislation creates:

A New Fund



Fiscal Note Summary


Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.


The purpose of this article is to require background checks for individuals who have direct access to residents, members or beneficiaries of covered providers participating in the West Virginia Clearance for Access: Registry and Employment Screening program. The bill defines terms. The bill requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources to develop a plan and a program for conducting background checks. The bill requires a centralized database to maintain criminal history record information and results. The bill establishes a prescreening process conducted by covered providers. The bill requires applicants to provide fingerprints and undergo a criminal background check. The bill establishes procedures and criteria for obtaining and reviewing criminal history record information. The bill establishes criteria for approving applicants as covered individuals. The bill authorizes contractors and fees. The bill creates a special revenue account for administrative fees. The bill provides for protests of the secretary's decisions and permitting variances. The bill creates exceptions. The bill authorizes legislative rules. The bill provides monetary penalties. The bill provides for civil and criminal immunity. Estimated costs of this program for SFY15 are $682,161 (fully Federally funded) and $333,322 for SFY16 ($249,992 Federal and $83,330 State). For years after SFY16 the annual cost is estimated to be $333,322, all state funds-see Explanation section below.



Fiscal Note Detail


Effect of Proposal Fiscal Year
2014
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
2015
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost 0 682,161 333,322
Personal Services 0 69,161 69,161
Current Expenses 0 613,000 264,161
Repairs and Alterations 0 0 0
Assets 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
2. Estimated Total Revenues 0 0 0


Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):


In 2011 DHHR received a grant from Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to implement a Criminal Background Check system with a rap-back process; the grant was for 3 years expiring on 9/30/14. The grant required a 25% match, for which background check fees will be used as in-kind match, resulting in no state general revenue being needed to match the federal funds. At this time due to various delays in getting the program initiated there is a plan to request a one-year no-cost extension from CMS, which would extend the expiration of the grant until 9/30/15. The federal funds are anticipated to cover the costs of the program through that extended due date, however after that time another funding mechanism would be needed (either fees generated from a Department-assessed fee as allowed in section 16-46-9 of the legislation or state general revenue funds). At this time there is not a specific plan to assess such a fee or any estimate of what such a fee would be, however other states charges for similar programs range from $7.50-$45 per scan. The estimated costs above were calculated from the program budget estimates used for the grant application and anticipate that after passage of the legislation the program could begin, and associated start-up costs would occur during SFY15. These costs are as follows: One FTE program manager (salary of $52,000, plus benefits of 33%, for a total of $69,121); the other current expenses consist mainly of contractual costs (total contractual $593K; software development costs of $344K; hardware (servers/storage/networking) $28K; maintenance $34K; contractual staff (3 FTE positions) $148K; and Office of Technology Project Management Office services $39K). The remaining Current Expenses of $17K consist of travel ($3K for national conference); training sessions to be conducted throughout the state ($8K); laptop purchase $1700; printing, supplies and other miscellaneous costs of $4K. Anticipating that CMS will grant the one-year no-cost extension, these costs are expected to be covered by the grant for SFY15 with no state funds needed. The full year implementation costs consist of all the costs listed above except for the $344K software development costs and laptop purchase (all other costs are estimated to be ongoing costs to run the program). The costs above are the estimate of one year of program operation costs based on the information available at this time. For SFY16 the grant would cover the first quarter of costs (estimated to be $83K) until it expires on 9/30/15, resulting in three quarters of costs to be funded by non-Federal funds (state funds or funds generated by fees); this is estimated at approximately $250K for SFY16 (however this split in Federal/State funds may fluctuate based on the timing of activities). For years after SFY16 the full estimated cost of $333K per year would be from state funds.



Memorandum


Suggested wording change to section ยง16-46-9 (a) (2): The secretary may assess a fee to applicants or covered providers for the maintenance of the Internet-based system required by this article. The assessment shall be deposited into a special revenue account within the State Treasurer's Office, to be known as the "DHHR Criminal Background Administration Account." Expenditures from the account shall be made by the Secretary for the purposes set forth in this article and are authorized from collections. The account shall be administered by the secretary and may not be deemed a part of the general revenue of the state.



    Person submitting Fiscal Note: Karen L. Bowling
    Email Address: karen.l.bowling@wv.gov