Thursday, July 13, 2023

Mr. White Goes to Washington

 State Auditor Shad White issued the following statement yesterday. 

Today State Auditor Shad White addressed the US House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare on the massive misappropriation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds uncovered by his office. White presented the case to lawmakers in Washington, DC, and emphasized the need for stronger safeguards to prevent such fraud in the future.

“My hope in testifying today,” said Auditor White, “is that the story of what happened in my home state will help ensure that it never happens again elsewhere.”

Mississippi’s welfare scandal emerged in 2019 when the State Auditor's office received a tip regarding a potential kickback scheme involving the Department of Human Services (DHS).  The Office of the State Auditor’s investigation then revealed tens of millions of dollars had been misspent between 2016 and 2019. White provided his findings to prosecutors who have now obtained guilty pleas from six individuals, including the former head of DHS and influential nonprofit executives. The pleas included admissions of fraud and money laundering, among others. Prosecutors—who make the decisions about which individuals to charge with a crime—continue their work on the case. 


Start at 55:50

 

“We provided every document we have in the case to federal authorities years ago and have assisted them as they make their final decisions,” added White.

The DHS welfare scandal represents the largest public fraud case in Mississippi history.

During the hearing, White proposed reforms to strengthen oversight and accountability. He recommended the federal Department of Health and Human Services:

  • Require state agency heads to sign statements under penalty of perjury about the number of people served by welfare, 
  • Punish state agencies that fail to properly monitor nonprofits receiving welfare grants, 
  • Report improper spending to Congress, 
  • Implement stricter eligibility criteria for TANF funds so that only the truly needy are eligible. 

“As we wait for the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice to make their decisions about whether to prosecute anyone else, I’ll once again thank the team at the Office of the State Auditor,” said White. “Their quick work stopped the loss of millions of dollars, and if reforms are implemented, it might prevent future losses in other states.”

 


24 comments:

Anonymous said...

The moral to this story is to steal $10 from the State of Mississippi. That way if you ever go missing, Shad White will find you.

Anonymous said...

A special pass for sportsball players and hayseed governors.
The full hammer for POC and women!

Anonymous said...

Once again Shad, go after the big players in this and not just the little ones. You know exactly who we are talking about. Until you do that, you have no credibility.

Anonymous said...

Damn good job getting all that said in under 5 minutes and representing Mississippi well.
Shad for Gov!

Anonymous said...

there's one thing that those presley commercials got right--put some of those 'crooked politicians in jail'.

Anonymous said...

In the long run after all the speeches, and a few token bureaucrats and a few token well-connected politicos do a little token time, while they launder their money, the po folks who dare to steal a couple hundred dollars will feel the full weight of justice-Big Time. Go get 'em Shad!

Anonymous said...

"Implement stricter eligibility criteria for TANF funds so that only the truly needy are eligible"? Really?

Who are "truly needy," Mr. Auditor? Who, exactly, is now eligible that shouldn't be? Most important, what does TANF eligibility have to do with the looting of the State's TANF funds by Mississippi government officials and political grifters? You think TANF eligibility requirements were the cause of the greatest welfare fraud in Mississippi history? Really? No, TANF eligible Mississippians were the real victims of the TANF fraud, Mr. Auditor.

Strange how he ignored so many politically connected folks when he made all his "demands." Why no demands to USM Athletic Foundation, Lobaki, Longwitz, etc...? Why no follow up investigation or inquiries regarding the involvement of your mentor and former governor? I think we know why.

Mr. Auditor, the number of TANF eligible people in Mississippi had absolutely nothing to do with the TANF fraud. Stricter eligibility requirements won't solve the problem of government officials and politicos stealing TANF funds. It certainly won't help Mississippi's needy children and families.

Before defending Mr. Auditor, look up how many eligible Mississippi families received direct TANF benefits in FY 2021 and tell us who among them should not have been eligible.

Anonymous said...

A special pass for sportsball players and hayseed governors.

... put some of those 'crooked politicians in jail'.


What do you want them charged with? Be specific.

Anonymous said...

11:13 for today's winning comment.

Anonymous said...

@12:38

You do realize the position he staked out was to be sure poor people get the benefit of the money, right? Shad's actual point is to design a system including guardrails so rich people can't use TANF as a slush fund. The dude literally arrested rich folks who took advantage of the poor--the true victims here.

Also, his audit report calls out each of those entities. Your precious Anna Wolfe is the one who was too concerned with chasing fame and fortune to mention anyone other than Brett Favre--who was included in Shad's audit.

Maybe you should just lay off the juice during working hours.

Anonymous said...

12:38 - Yes, tighter restrictions are needed. Most all of these so called welfare programs were meant to be short term, and serve as a safety net. However, for decades now they have become the very foundation for a life style. There is no incentive for self improvement if you know you're getting a government check every month. Kudos to Mr. White for what he is doing and has done.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully, taxpayer funds were not used to pay for Shad to travel to DC for this political dog and pony show.

Anonymous said...

@2:09 p.m. Thanks for coming by Shad. By the way, we need to see your timesheet for today since you are "stealing" taxpayer money by posting on this site instead of actually doing your job.

Anonymous said...

So many here think Shad White is a prosecutor. Nope, he finds evidence and forks it over. The feds have the prosecution of Gov Bryant's TANF misdeeds and he will go down last, after all the smaller fish offer evidence against him. Slow process.

Anonymous said...

Glad to see Shad and his stay in the Sip interns still monitor this site.

Anonymous said...

So dissenters of Shad are normal comments.
But any supporter of Shad is clearly an employee?

Yall do know the man won an election, right?
It is possible that some of the comments are from people who genuinely support him?

I am not sure if I am one of his supporters yet, but it seems silly to propose the only positive remarks MUST be from his camp.

Anonymous said...

Shad is playing “teacher’s pet” before the next ball drops. We’ll played.

Anonymous said...

Shad plays “teacher’s pet” before next ball drops. Change that headline.

Anonymous said...

I still have Shad’s business card as Feel’s campaign manger. Should I send it to the feds? I’m sure it’s not in the portfolio of evidence that Shad gave them.

Anonymous said...

$94 million sure lifted a half dozen or so people out of poverty.

Anonymous said...

What do Phil Bryant and Stacey Pickering have in common? Oh wait, Shad ran both of their campaigns. Make complete sense. No telling who else got free passes. Hopefully, time will tell. And yes, I am embarrassed to say I voted for Shad and contributed to his campaign (prior to both scandals).

Anonymous said...

I purposefully waited two hours this morning to read this thread, and the comments.

I wanted to give all the 'What About Feel and Brett' loons plenty of time to post so I could count them.

Other than counting them, there's nothing of material value to be found in their posts.

Don Drane said...

I have no problem with state funds being used to pay for this trip to D.C. or any other trips he might make on State Business.

It gives folks in other parts of the country a chance to note that Mississippi DOES have competent, intelligent, well-spoken, alert and knowledgeable state employees.

Hell, do we want those people up there to think everybody down here mirrors Bennie Thompson and Cindy Smith?

Anonymous said...

I don't know Shad personally, but at least he is doing something to help our state. I don,t see anyone else trying to help us out of this mess. Thanks Jambalaya for hanging in there with him.


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