Sponsor
Jefferson Van Drew
Representative · R-NJ
Representative · R-NJ
The bill increases federal access to state program records to strengthen fraud investigations and public accountability, but it raises significant privacy risks, creates compliance costs, and may constrain broader information‑sharing and oversight needed to detect complex fraud and support later legal or audit needs.
Taxpayers and program beneficiaries will see stronger fraud enforcement and recovery because state agencies must provide records to the Department of Justice, enabling investigations and prosecution that can recover stolen or improperly paid funds.
Individuals whose records are shared gain stronger legal and technical privacy protections because transferred data must be handled under the Privacy Act/HIPAA where applicable, encrypted to industry standards, limited in federal use to fraud-related law enforcement, and destroyed after the case or investigation ends.
Taxpayers and state governments get more transparency and accountability about federal use of state data because DOJ must report how often it requests state data, which programs are affected, and outcomes (investigations initiated and convictions), improving public oversight of data-driven enforcement.
Low-income program participants and other individuals face increased privacy and data‑security risks because states are required to share demographic and identity records with the federal government and some program-level details may be exposed in reporting if not carefully redacted.
Strict limits on federal use/disclosure and mandatory destruction of transferred records could hinder legitimate administrative uses, slow or prevent cross‑program information‑sharing needed to detect complex or multi‑jurisdictional fraud schemes, and make later appeals, audits, or oversight more difficult.
Federal and state agencies will incur implementation and ongoing administrative costs to upgrade security, enforce encryption/access controls, carry out data‑destruction procedures, and compile required reports.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Requires states to provide DOJ with specified program records for fraud investigations, sets privacy/security rules for transfers, and mandates annual DOJ reporting to Congress.
Requires state agencies that administer many federal assistance programs to provide records and other information to the Attorney General on written request to support fraud investigations and prosecutions. Sets privacy, security, and data-use limits for that information, requires annual reporting to congressional judiciary committees about requests and outcomes, and takes effect 60 days after enactment. The law covers a long list of federal-state programs (including Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, unemployment, multiple COVID-era relief funds, FEMA, HUD CDBG, BEAD broadband, and small business credit programs) and directs the Attorney General to protect transferred data under the Privacy Act and HIPAA where applicable, encrypt transfers, limit use to law-enforcement fraud purposes, and destroy data when investigations conclude.
Official title: To enhance information-sharing capabilities between Federal law enforcement and State agencies to detect, investigate, and prosecute fraud in certain Federal programs, and to protect individual privacy.
Introduced September 10, 2026 by Jefferson Van Drew · Last progress September 17, 2026