Posted on 05/24/2008 4:50:41 PM PDT by anymouse
With the price tag of providing care for more than 400 children seized last month from a polygamist ranch in West Texas expected to reach the tens of millions of dollars, a legislative panel suggested Tuesday that the state explore garnisheeing the religious organization's assets to recoup the costs.
"That compound didn't grow out of fairy dust," Sen. Robert Deuell, R-Greenville, said after a Senate Finance Committee hearing in which he urged state health officials to determine whether members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or even the sect as a whole, should be held responsible for the cost of care. "Why should we be footing the bill when they've got assets?"
The remarks came after the panel heard testimony that providing foster care, Medicaid coverage and casework for the children from the YFZ (Yearning For Zion) Ranch will likely cost taxpayers more than $1.7 million a month for as long as they are in state custody. The figure does not include the $5.3 million for the first six weeks of the operation or the cost of providing the required legal representation for each of the children, which is likely to cost at least $2.2 million.
The committee, which plays a lead role in drafting and overseeing the state budget, is exploring ways to cover the near-term costs even though no money was appropriated last year for such an event.
Legislative leaders and Gov. Rick Perry's office expect an emergency appropriation will be necessary when lawmakers return to Austin in January to ensure that the state's bills for the operation are paid.
"We basically need to pay what it's going to cost to do the job right, and we need to know, to the best of your ability, what that cost is so we can factor that in when we're making decisions about other worthwhile costs and needs in this state," Sen. Steve Ogden, a Bryan Republican who heads the finance panel, told Albert Hawkins, the state's executive commissioner for health and human services.
Law enforcement officers and officials from Child Protective Services rounded up the children from the ranch near Eldorado after an anonymous caller claimed to be a pregnant and abused 16-year-old forced into a marriage with a 50-year-old.
Officials now believe that the call may have been a hoax.
But CPS workers have said that the children were in imminent danger of abuse. In court hearings that began Monday in San Angelo, many parents are seeking to regain custody.
Deuell said efforts should be made to determine whether any of the children placed in foster care are covered by the parents' private insurance. If so, he said, the state would not have to enroll them in the taxpayer-supported Medicaid program.
Hawkins said it is unclear whether sect members have private insurance. He also said that officials have found no evidence that anyone from the sect is receiving public assistance.
Even if the adults do have private insurance, the children would still likely require Medicaid coverage, Hawkins said, because DNA testing to determine parentage is expected to take up to two months to complete.
Rod Parker, a spokesman for the FLDS, said any effort to seize assets would be an overreach by the state.
"I think my response is to ask the state on what legal grounds it believes it would be entitled to take FLDS assets," Parker said in an e-mail to the Star-Telegram. "This is a country of laws; they cannot simply go after assets without legal basis."
"I think my response is to ask the state on what legal grounds it believes it would be entitled to take FLDS assets," Parker said in an e-mail to the Star-Telegram. "This is a country of laws; they cannot simply go after assets without legal basis."
So they conduct a raid and want to bill the accused for the prison stay? Can we apply this billing process to Mexico for any and all illegal immigrants who are staying in government facilities?
BTTT
Pedophiles are disgusting people.
But then... out of control government is simply disgusting.
I just read that it cost the state of Texas 7.5 million dollars for the first 19 days after the raid. I was generous and calculated how much a day this is costing the Texan taxpayers. If there are 500 people in custody right now, then it is costing a mere $750.00 a day for each person.
After that comment I had to check to make sure this wasn't satire. And sure enough, it wasn't. Just stupidity and arrogance.
I am surprised that a so-called Republican would make such a vile suggestion! Are not Republicans supposed to be compassionate conservatives?
The children were seized illegally. The State and Federal governments are, or should be liable for the costs and damages to the wronged mothers, IMO. It is no wonder that the approval ratings of our congress are so low; they are out of touch with the people.
This is a mess. The state is going to be hit with lawsuits into the tens if not hundreds of millions, and the legislature is worried about who’s going to pay for the raid? I don’t agree with the FLDS on any level. I think it’s creepy, but if the state can’t prove abuse, Texans are going to pay.
Bill them and all criminals. That would be a CHANGE I can believe in.
This HAD to be proposed before the court decision about CPS having no reason to take all of the children?? If not, there really are some loons down there.
This is no different than seizing other fraudulently obtained assets. The FLDS lied to the owners of the property and told them they would be putting in a hunting operation, knowing full well that no one would sell their land to a cult. They seem to have plenty of money, so let them reimburse the state of Texas for the expenses incurred by their child abuse.
In TN and other states the parents have to pay something towards the support of their children when they are in foster care etc...
This cult can well afford to pay for the support of “their” children...
How about we just make you pay for it all, since you see no reason to not confiscate other people’s property on the basis of unproven allegations. I think you are probably the one that made that false call to CPS, or maybe you are a CPS worker who stands to profit from all this. It’s obvious you have no idea what America is all about—something called individual liberty, protection of property rights, and the pursuit of happiness by one’s own understanding—not yours or the governments.
Hank
Good idea.
Exactly
Well put.
I think TX is about to get there (you know what) handed to them.
This is a lawyer’s dream of people suing the government.
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