House Bill 3,700 would amend Chapter 201 of the Texas Labor Code to establish explicit statutory authority for the Texas Workforce Commission to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse across all TWC programs and to use investigative tools such as subpoenas where authorized.

Chair King said agency reviews identified gaps in statutory direction for fraud prevention outside the subsidized childcare program. The bill would memorialize detection and prevention authority across TWC programs, add legislative reporting requirements, and include whistleblower protections for employees who report suspected fraud in good faith.

Chuck Ross of TWC, the agency’s director of fraud deterrence and compliance monitoring, testified as a resource witness and said the change would allow TWC to use its full investigative toolkit, including subpoenas for bank records in fraud investigations, and confirmed the committee substitute added employee protections for whistleblowers. Public testimony was closed and the bill was left pending subject to the call of the chair.