Opinion: Exposed — Democrat motivations on the income tax and fraud at DCYF

Sen. John Braun says $37 million in overpayments and overbilling found to be "questionable" should be investigated further. — Sen. John Braun says $37 million in overpayments and overbilling found to be “questionable” should be investigated further. Photo courtesy Sen. John Braun

🎧 Sen. Braun Exposes $37M DCYF Daycare Fraud Scandal

Sen. John Braun says daycare fraud concerns should be a priority

Sen. John Braun, candidate
3rd Congressional District

Since news came to light months ago about the rampant daycare fraud in Minnesota, I have been concerned about the possibility of similar fraud here in Washington.

Sen. John Braun

As the legislative session got underway, I shared these concerns publicly. Democrat leaders in Olympia dismissed them as unfounded; the Speaker of the House went so far as to say such concerns were an insult to legitimate daycare owners in Washington. I said that anyone operating legitimately should want fraud to be uncovered and addressed so their own businesses don’t suffer guilt by association. Moreover, any money we lose because of fraud means fewer dollars for people who need those services.

I was right to be concerned.

A recent audit uncovered $37 million in questionable payments from federal tax dollars to daycare providers in Washington.

An article in the Washington State Standard reported, “The $37 million the audit identified is made up of $27.2 million in federal Child Care and Development Fund grants and $9.9 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program.”

This means that $1 of every $5 (or 20% of the total amount) DCYF paid out was an overpayment.

LISTEN TO MY PODCAST ABOUT FRAUD AT DCYF

While some were overpaid, others overbilled the state. While this doesn’t necessarily prove fraud in the system, it does prove that the DCYF lacks proper documentation to back up its spending and/or isn’t complying with federal requirements.

DCYF has not referred the audit findings to the Office of Fraud and Accountability for review. According to the Washington State Standard, DCYF says the cases of questionable payments did not “rise to the level of suspected fraud or intentional deception.”

I disagree.

If the fault for overpayments lies with DCYF, that indicates gross incompetence and mismanagement. DCYF claims they don’t have enough staff to adequately review hundreds of thousands of payments. That should be remedied.

But, if some daycare providers are overbilling the state and can’t provide documentation to justify their numbers, that indicates fraud and should be further investigated for “intentional deception.”

Every dollar the state spends comes from hardworking taxpayers, and while agencies such as DCYF waste 20% of their payouts on overpayments, the Democrat majority continues to raise taxes and claim that they need more and more revenue.

Republicans often say that Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem — it has a spending problem. If Democrats took audit findings such as these more seriously, there would be room in existing revenue to fund the state’s priorities without demanding another dime from you.

I’ll continue to follow this situation closely and work toward greater accountability at DCYF and in other state agencies.

READ MY RECENT COLUMN ON THE DCYF AUDIT

If you have any questions or comments, email me or call my office at (360) 786-7638.