This article is published in collaboration with Texas Tribune, a non-profit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages Texans. Sign up for Bried Weekly and stay on track to essential coverage of Texas issues.
Two years ago, Texas lawmakers quietly cut funds for kits aimed at tracking missing children after revealing that Propublica and the Texas Tribune had no evidence to support law enforcement in finding lost children.
The company that made the kits used outdated and exaggerated statistics on missing children to enhance sales and were billed for the materials when similar products were available less or free of charge.
Now, some Texas lawmakers are once again pushing for millions of people to spend on taxpayer dollars to buy such kits, plunging their funds into a 1,000-page budget proposal.
The proposal doesn’t specify which companies will offer them, but the 2021 bill introduced by Republican state Sen. Donna Campbell ensures that Texas will contract with the same vendor, the National Children Identification Program. At the time, Campbell made it clear that her intention was to enforce the law a long-standing partnership between the state and the NCIDP, dating back more than 20 years. Her law, signed into law in June, specified that every time a state allocates funds to such material, Texas educational institutions must purchase an “incidentless” identification kit, a technology patented by NCIDP.
The Waco-based company is led by Kenny Hansmire, a former NFL player discovered by ProPublica and Tribune.
Hansmire has cultivated relationships with strong Texas legislators who continued to support his initiative. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, funded the kits for Campbell’s law and later told news organizations that prioritized what could speed up the return of missing children. Campbell told lawmakers that the bipartisan measures brought to her by Hansmear and Patrick are important to “protect our children.”
Patrick, Campbell and Hansmire did not respond to requests for interviews for this story. Hansmire previously told the newsroom that his debt and other financial issues had been resolved. He also defended his company’s kit, saying they helped them find multiple missing children, instructing reporters to ask “any police officer” about the usefulness of the kit. However, none of the Texas law enforcement agencies that news organizations reached could recall any of the examples, including three, particularly three named ones.
Stacey Pearson, a child safety consultant and former Louisiana State Police Sergeant, said he oversaw the state’s clearing house for the missing and exploited children in that state, but he has never seen a case of lawmakers demonstrating that these kits work, including the past two years since lawmakers abolished the funds.
“I don’t understand why I’m going back to this,” said Pearson, who recently spoke with the newsroom for a previous investigation. “It’s not a good idea for 2023, it’s not a good idea now.”
Despite the lack of evidence, Pearson said companies like NCIDP could benefit from the kit by selling them as part of a larger child safety program. Texas allocated nearly $6 million for the kit between 2021 and 2023.
When lawmakers decided to stop paying for kits in 2023, they didn’t explain why. Republican state Sen. Joan Huffman, who chairs High Chamber’s finance committee, said at the time, both the House and Senate agreed to remove funds “after review and review.”
During this year’s budgeting process, Democrat Armando Martinez proposed adding $2 million to the House budget and providing kits to families with kindergarten through second grade children.
Martinez did not respond to the interview request.
State Rep. Greg Bonnen, who chairs the House Budget Committee, did not respond to requests for interviews or written questions.
Bonnen was one of 33 lawmakers who voted against Campbell’s bill, which established funding for the children’s identification kit four years ago. The newsroom tried to reach a small number of those lawmakers, but no one responded.
Huffman and the Senate have previously chosen not to recover funding for the program. Huffman declined a newsroom interview request.
Trump is spending billions on border security. Some of the residents living there do not have basic resources.
“The entire budget process is ongoing,” she wrote in an emailed statement. “There hasn’t been a final decision on most issues.”
Lawmakers from the two chambers continue to haveh out differences in budget proposals in joint committees operating behind closed doors. There is no guarantee that the funds will be the final budget. Lawmakers must pass before the legislative meeting ends in early June.
Pearson warned Congressional officials to question whether kits were the best use of state funding given the lack of documented success.
“My advice is for lawmakers to ask themselves, “If this is your personal money, not your taxpayer.” Would you like to spend on this program? ” Pearson said. “And the answer would be no.”
