Amendment #16 to H3514

Restriction on the Use of Placeholder Social Security Numbers

Representatives Harrington of Groton, Jones of North Reading, Peterson of Grafton, Hill of Ipswich, Poirier of North Attleborough and deMacedo of Plymouth moves to amend the bill in SECTION 4 by striking out subsection (e) of section 16W and inserting in place thereof the following:–

“(e) The office shall work with the departments, offices, or divisions, under the authority of the office, that assist in the administration of public benefit programs, as well as the bureau of program integrity, established pursuant to this chapter, to develop uniform rules and regulations regarding intake procedures and procedures for handling discrepancies that may result between an applicant or recipient’s social security number and one or more of the databases or information tools outlined in this section; provided that an applicant or recipient shall be notified of any discrepancy that arises between their social security number and information retrieved by the integrated eligibility system and the applicant or recipient shall be provided an opportunity to explain any discrepancy; provided that self-declarations by an applicant or recipient shall not be accepted as the sole verification of categorical and financial eligibility during eligibility evaluations and reviews; provided that all self-declarations made on or pursuant to an application for public assistance shall be signed under the pains and penalties of perjury; and, provided further that numerical identifiers, other than valid social security numbers, shall not be used as alternatives to social security numbers unless the applicant or recipient is an expecting mother in the third trimester of her pregnancy, a child under 1 years of age, or an asylee. If a recipient is unable to provide an accurate social security number to replace a numerical identifier within a time period of 3 months, the recipient’s public assistance benefits shall be terminated unless the individual is a victim of domestic violence who has a pending petition for legal status under the federal Violence Against Women Act.”.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #16 to H3514

Restriction on the Use of Placeholder Social Security Numbers