Djou: Micronesians Consume 20 Percent of Social Service Resources
UPDATED 12/22/10
Republican Congressman Charles Djou says Micronesians are consuming too much of the state’s social service resources.
In a Dec.14 press release, Djou said, “For too long, the taxpayers of Hawaii have had to bear a disproportionate burden in providing social services for Micronesian citizens who travel to the United States visa-free thanks to the Compact of Free Association. It is estimated that while Micronesian citizens make up less than one percent of Hawaii’s population, they consume over 20 percent of our social services. This cost is simply too high and unfair when Hawaii, like any other state, is making tough choices to survive these difficult times.”
Djou’s comments come on the heels of a by the to audit federal funding for the Compact of Free Association agreement between the United States, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau. Last week a federal judge ordered the state to resume providing full medical services to COFA migrants after it attempted to save money by limiting services.
The agreement allows Micronesians to travel freely to the U.S. and also enables them to take advantage of the same benefits as American citizens, such as health care and public housing assistance.
But is Djou’s estimate that Micronesians in Hawaii are consuming 20 percent of the state’s social service programs accurate?
According to a 2008 Census Report, there were 12,215 COFA migrants residing in the state. So, as for Djou’s first point – that Micronesians comprise about one percent of Hawaii’s population of 1.3 million – the congressman is correct.
But how much of Hawaii’s social service funding do Micronesians consume?
In 2007, the Legislature adopted a resolution calling on the Department of the Attorney General to answer that question. The AG convened a task force to assess the amount of money spent by the state to cover social service costs for COFA migrants.
The report, called “The Final Report of the Compact of Free Association Task Force” was submitted to the Legislature in 2009 and says that costs to provide services to Micronesians came to more than $101 million in 2007. (A link to the 2008 Interim Report can be found .)
The report says, “COFA migrants in the state often arrive with serious medical needs, and because of the right to freely travel to the United States, there is no provision for requiring health screening prior to entry or upon entry to the state. In addition a significant number of COFA migrants may need financial assistance or housing assistance, because of the relative lack of resources they have available. The state provides services to address the social services, education, public safety, and medical needs of COFA citizens who legally reside in the state, just as it provides them to other legal residents. The state has consistently reported increasing costs each year for the services provided to COFA migrants, the majority of which were not reimbursed by the federal government.”
The 2007 spending breakdown by the state for COFA is presented in the table below:
According to the , a nonprofit that promotes government transparency, Hawaii spent about $1 billion on welfare programs in 2010. (hat-tip Civil Beat member Paul Alston)
Toni Schwartz, a spokesperson with the state Department of Human Services, says that current estimates for COFA spending are about $120 million. About $10 million of that is reimbursed by the federal government, making the total amount of state spending for Micronesians about $110 million per year — or about 11 percent of the $1 billion in total welfare spending by the state.
So clearly Djou is correct that Hawaii is carrying a disproportionate financial burden for COFA residents, making it understandable why some, including Gov. Neil Abercrombie, argue that the federal government should give the state more money to cover the cost of services.
Department of Human Services
To give Djou the benefit of the doubt on COFA spending, we looked at just the Department of Human Services.
If Djou’s figure is right, it would make sense that the department would allocate a sizable amount of its resources to Micronesians.
The department has three forms of welfare assistance, according to its 2009 report. The services include:
- Financial assistance in the form of cash benefits
- Food stamp assistance (delivered in the form of a debit-like card)
- Medical assistance in the form of Medicaid fee-for-service coverage or managed care under the Quest program
In 2009, a total of 31,978 individuals received financial assistance from the DHS. The department’s budget included $679 million in state appropriations.
Between 2007 (the year the AG’s report covers) and 2009, total COFA spending only went up by about $20 million.
In 2007, DHS spent $37 million on COFA — or roughly 5.4 percent of the department’s 2009 state appropriations. Even if the DHS absorbed the entire $20 million spending increase, its total would still come to just 8.4 percent of the DHS’ social service spending.
The fact that one of the largest service providers in the state used less than 10 percent of its resources for COFA residents casts further doubt on Djou’s 20 percent figure.
Civil Beat tried repeatedly to contact Djou for clarification, and for the source of his statistic, but he did not respond.
