Post-Hearing Question Responses of Scott Jensen, Research Improving People's Lives (April 26, 2022)

Summary

A letter dated April 26, 2022 to the Subcommittee on Government Operations forwarding answers to post-hearing questions posed to Scott Jensen, Chief Executive Officer of Research Improving People's Lives, by Chairman Gerald E. Connolly, regarding the March 31, 2022 hearing Follow the Money: Tackling Improper Payments. In one answer, Jensen says the federal government can revisit data use rules to allow better customer service and fraud prevention. In another, he describes how the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training verified the federal adjusted gross income of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applicants against their tax filings, working with Research Improving People's Lives and Amazon Web Services.

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April 26, 2022

Subcommittee on Government Operations
US House of Representatives
Committee on Government Oversight and Reform
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-6143




To the Honorable Members of the Subcommittee on Government Operations:


Thank you for the honor of inviting me to testify before you as part of the March 31, 2022 hearing
“Follow the Money: Tackling Improper Payments”.

Please find attached the answers to post-hearing questions posed to Scott Jensen, Chief Executive Officer
and Vice President of External Affairs of Research Improving People’s Lives, by Chairman Gerald E.
Connolly.

If I, or my staff, can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to let me know.




Sincerely,




Scott Jensen
Chief Executive Officer
Vice President of External Affairs
Research Improving People’s Lives


Enclosure
cc:     Mintaka Angell, Chief Operations Officer
        Abby McQuade, Director of Consultancies
        Research Improving People’s Lives
      POST-HEARING QUESTION RESPONSES OF SCOTT JENSEN, CEO OF RESEARCH
  IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES, TO THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM, U.S.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, REGARDING HIS TESTIMONY “GENUINE MODERNIZATION
     OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AFTER THE PANDEMIC”, PRESENTED TO THE
 SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS DURING THE HEARING “FOLLOW THE
         MONEY: TACKLING IMPROPER PAYMENTS” HELD ON MARCH 31, 2022

               The below questions were all posed by Chairman Gerald E. Connolly.


  1. Question: How can the federal government and states help each other better understand
     and adapt to the people we all seek to serve?
     Answer: The federal government can revisit data use rules – both between states and between the
     federal government and the states – to not just allow better customer services and fraud
     prevention but to mandate that data be used for these purposes. The “time tax” not only harms
     citizens but it makes it extremely hard for federal partners (e.g., state governments) to do their
     job(s).
  2. Question: Can you provide an example of how technology can help the government reduce
     fraud while also providing benefits to those who need government assistance?
     Answer: Data can be jointly used on the cloud in smart ways but does not need to be “shared”, as
     traditionally understood. For example, to administer the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
     (“PUA”) program in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training verified
     the federal adjusted gross income (“AGI”) of applicants against the most recent tax year’s
     personal income tax filing made by each applicant/claimant. Partnered with Research Improving
     People’s Lives and Amazon Web Services, we were able to use the Department’s cloud-based
     Research Data Lake to house PUA application data provided by the claimant in a Secure Data
     Enclave. Rhode Island Department of Revenue, Division of Taxation (“Taxation”) data was
     housed in its own Secure Data Enclave. Modern technology enabled us to share information
     (whether the claimant’s AGI matched Taxation records or not) with Taxation without either
     agency needing to openly share or even let the other agency see their respective data.
     Modern technology enabled Rhode Island to reduce PUA fraud by verifying claimant-provided
     information and calculating the appropriate benefit level for each PUA beneficiary. Both agencies
     were able to preserve the integrity of their data, while still facilitating the processing of PUA
     applications quickly and efficiently, allowing Rhode Island to be the first state in the country to
     make its PUA application available to its unemployed workers and the second state in the country
     to pay PUA benefits.
  3. Question: In Rhode Island, did you work with other states to ensure the same person did
     not receive unemployment insurance from more than one state, and if so will you describe
     your experience?
     Answer: We did, and the experience was miserable. To begin with, the interpretations of whether
     and how data can be used by other states are typically very restrictive. There is a downside to
     cooperating with other states, as it is easy for government program administrators to easily
     imagine the many things that can go wrong while the benefits are reasonably abstract. (I would
argue that it is up to the federal government to change this incentive structure, empowering states
to work cooperatively and collectively, where appropriate.) Additionally, the established data
exchange portals through which the states do communicate are old technology (and in some cases
rely on literal hand processing). During the pandemic, these portals simply did not work as even
originally intended. Given our experiences during the height of the pandemic, it is relatively easy
for me to state that those existing information exchanges would once again break down in the
next severe recession (as they indeed did during the Great Recession, prior to the COVID-19
pandemic).


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