TWC authorizes data‑sharing agreements to avoid 500,000 manual TPA reauthorizations during TXUS migration

Lil Keg, director of the Unemployment Insurance Division, told the Commission that third‑party administrators (TPAs) manage over 60% of Texas employer accounts and that legacy TPA links are incompatible with the new cloud‑based TXUS platform. Without an automated solution, she said, "roughly 500,000 employers would be forced to manually reestablish their TPA authorizations one by one," a step that could jeopardize the TXUS deployment timetable and delay tax payments.

Staff proposed mirroring federal standards by using legally binding data‑sharing agreements under Texas Labor Code §301.081(c), allowing participating TPAs to provide an electronic customer list and to certify they retain required employer consents for audit. Commissioners discussed audit oversight and outreach to nationwide payroll providers and CPAs; the Commission voted to adopt the order allowing the migration approach and to make the formal finding needed to proceed.