GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1321*

Short Title:  Biometrics Technical Corrections.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Martin of Guilford and Phillips.

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Referred to:  Children and Human Resources.

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May 27, 1998

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING THE BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM TO MAKE NECESSARY TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE COMMISSION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 108A-25.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 108A-25.1.  Recipient identification system.
(a)	The Department shall establish and maintain a uniform system in the Department and in all counties of identifying all Work First, food stamp, and medical assistance program recipients, except those who are institutionalized adults and children under the age of 18. This system shall provide security and portability throughout the State and between the departments within the State involved in means-tested public assistance programs and shall have the capability of identifying recipients of assistance from all means-tested programs administered or funded through the Department.
(b)	The identification system established in this section shall use multiple biometrics to ensure greater than ninety-nine percent (99%) accuracy for interdepartmental identification.
(c)	The Department shall ensure that the biometric identification system will be compatible with any existing departmental biometric identification system.
(d)	The Department shall make biometric identification a condition of eligibility for Work First, food stamp, and medical assistance programs for all recipients described in subsection (a) of this section. If any recipient is denied assistance on the basis of the identification system established in this section, the recipient's whole case, or group of recipients whose eligibility for public assistance is dependent on all the other group members' financial and nonfinancial situation, shall be denied assistance."
Section 2.  Section 12.35 of S.L. 1997-443 reads as rewritten:
"Section 12.35.  The Department of Health and Human Services shall have the uniform system of recipient identification established in G.S. 108A-25.1 in place and operating as soon as possible after federal approval of the phase-in process.  The Department shall implement the start of the phase-in process no later than October 1, 1999.  Except as otherwise provided in this Part, this Part is effective when it becomes law."
Section 3. Funds appropriated by S.L. 1997-443 to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of State Budget and Management for the Biometrics Recipient Identification System for the 1997-98 fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available to the Department for this purpose.
Section 4. Section 3 of this act becomes effective June 30, 1998.  The remainder of this act is effective upon becoming law.