I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5389 

To improve efforts to identify and reduce Governmentwide improper 

payments, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2019 

Ms. CRAIG (for herself, Mr. MEADOWS, Mrs. BUSTOS, and Mr. GIANFORTE) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To improve efforts to identify and reduce Governmentwide 

improper payments, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Payment Integrity In5 formation Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 31, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘Subchapter IV—Improper Payments 

2 ‘‘§ 3351. Definitions 

3 ‘‘In this subchapter: 

4 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT.—The 

5 term ‘annual financial statement’ means the annual 

6 financial statement required under section 3515 of 

7 this title or similar provision of law. 

8 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE.—The term ‘compliance’ 

9 means that an executive agency— 

10 ‘‘(A) has— 

11 ‘‘(i) published improper payments in12 formation with the annual financial state13 ment of the executive agency for the most 

14 recent fiscal year; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) posted on the website of the ex16 ecutive agency that statement and any ac17 companying materials required under guid18 ance of the Office of Management and 

19 Budget; 

20 ‘‘(B) if required, has conducted a program 

21 specific risk assessment for each program or ac22 tivity that conforms with the requirements 

23 under section 3352(a); 

24 ‘‘(C) if required, publishes improper pay25 ments estimates for all programs and activities 


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1 identified under section 3352(a) in the accom2 panying materials to the annual financial state3 ment; 

4 ‘‘(D) publishes programmatic corrective ac5 tion plans prepared under section 3352(d) that 

6 the executive agency may have in the accom7 panying materials to the annual financial state8 ment; 

9 ‘‘(E) publishes improper payments reduc10 tion targets established under section 3352(d) 

11 that the executive agency may have in the ac12 companying materials to the annual financial 

13 statement for each program or activity assessed 

14 to be at risk, and has demonstrated improve15 ments and developed a plan to meet the reduc16 tion targets; and 

17 ‘‘(F) has reported an improper payment 

18 rate of less than 10 percent for each program 

19 and activity for which an estimate was pub20 lished under section 3352(c). 

21 ‘‘(3) DO NOT PAY INITIATIVE.—The term ‘Do 

22 Not Pay Initiative’ means the initiative described in 

23 section 3354(b). 

24 ‘‘(4) IMPROPER PAYMENT.—The term ‘im25 proper payment’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) means any payment that should not 

2 have been made or that was made in an incor3 rect amount, including an overpayment or un4 derpayment, under a statutory, contractual, ad5 ministrative, or other legally applicable require6 ment; and 

7 ‘‘(B) includes— 

8 ‘‘(i) any payment to an ineligible re9 cipient; 

10 ‘‘(ii) any payment for an ineligible 

11 good or service; 

12 ‘‘(iii) any duplicate payment; 

13 ‘‘(iv) any payment for a good or serv14 ice not received, except for those payments 

15 where authorized by law; and 

16 ‘‘(v) any payment that does not ac17 count for credit for applicable discounts. 

18 ‘‘(5) PAYMENT.—The term ‘payment’ means 

19 any transfer or commitment for future transfer of 

20 Federal funds such as cash, securities, loans, loan 

21 guarantees, and insurance subsidies to any non-Fed22 eral person or entity or a Federal employee, that is 

23 made by a Federal agency, a Federal contractor, a 

24 Federal grantee, or a governmental or other organi25 zation administering a Federal program or activity. 


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1 ‘‘(6) PAYMENT FOR AN INELIGIBLE GOOD OR

2 SERVICE.—The term ‘payment for an ineligible good 

3 or service’ includes a payment for any good or serv4 ice that is rejected under any provision of any con5 tract, grant, lease, cooperative agreement, or other 

6 funding mechanism. 

7 ‘‘(7) RECOVERY AUDIT.—The term ‘recovery 

8 audit’ means a recovery audit described in section 

9 3352(i). 

10 ‘‘(8) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each 

11 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

12 each territory or possession of the United States, 

13 and each Federally recognized Indian tribe. 

14 ‘‘§ 3352. Estimates of improper payments and reports 

15 on actions to reduce improper payments 

16 ‘‘(a) IDENTIFICATION OF SUSCEPTIBLE PROGRAMS

17 AND ACTIVITIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each executive 

19 agency shall, in accordance with guidance prescribed 

20 by the Director of the Office of Management and 

21 Budget— 

22 ‘‘(A) periodically review all programs and 

23 activities that the head of the executive agency 

24 administers; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) identify all programs and activities 

2 with outlays exceeding the statutory threshold 

3 dollar amount described in paragraph (3)(A)(i) 

4 that may be susceptible to significant improper 

5 payments. 

6 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—A review under paragraph 

7 (1) shall be performed for each program and activity 

8 that the head of an executive agency administers not 

9 less frequently than once every 3 fiscal years. 

10 ‘‘(3) RISK ASSESSMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF SIGNIFICANT.—In 

12 this paragraph, the term ‘significant’ means 

13 that, in the preceding fiscal year, the sum of a 

14 program or activity’s improper payments and 

15 payments whose propriety cannot be determined 

16 by the executive agency due to lacking or insuf17 ficient documentation may have exceeded— 

18 ‘‘(i) $10,000,000 of all reported pro19 gram or activity payments of the executive 

20 agency made during that fiscal year and 

21 1.5 percent of program outlays; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) $100,000,000. 

23 ‘‘(B) SCOPE.—In conducting a review 

24 under paragraph (1), the head of each executive 

25 agency shall take into account those risk factors 


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1 that are likely to contribute to a susceptibility 

2 to significant improper payments, such as— 

3 ‘‘(i) whether the program or activity 

4 reviewed is new to the executive agency; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the complexity of the program or 

6 activity reviewed; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the volume of payments made 

8 through the program or activity reviewed; 

9 ‘‘(iv) whether payments or payment 

10 eligibility decisions are made outside of the 

11 executive agency, such as by a State or 

12 local government; 

13 ‘‘(v) recent major changes in program 

14 funding, authorities, practices, or proce15 dures; 

16 ‘‘(vi) the level, experience, and quality 

17 of training for personnel responsible for 

18 making program eligibility determinations 

19 or certifying that payments are accurate; 

20 ‘‘(vii) significant deficiencies in the 

21 audit report of the executive agency or 

22 other relevant management findings that 

23 might hinder accurate payment certifi24 cation; 


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1 ‘‘(viii) similarities to other programs 

2 or activities that have reported improper 

3 payment estimates or been deemed suscep4 tible to significant improper payments; 

5 ‘‘(ix) the accuracy and reliability of 

6 improper payment estimates previously re7 ported for the program or activity, or other 

8 indicator of potential susceptibility to im9 proper payments identified by the Inspec10 tor General of the executive agency, the 

11 Government Accountability Office, other 

12 audits performed by or on behalf of the 

13 Federal, State, or local government, disclo14 sures by the executive agency, or any other 

15 means; 

16 ‘‘(x) whether the program or activity 

17 lacks information or data systems to con18 firm eligibility or provide for other pay19 ment integrity needs; and 

20 ‘‘(xi) the risk of fraud as assessed by 

21 the executive agency under the Standards 

22 for Internal Control in the Federal Govern23 ment published by the Government Ac24 countability Office (commonly known as 

25 the ‘Green Book’). 


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1 ‘‘(C) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each executive 

2 agency shall publish an annual report that in3 cludes— 

4 ‘‘(i) a listing of each program or activ5 ity identified under paragraph (1), includ6 ing the date on which the program or ac7 tivity was most recently assessed for risk 

8 under paragraph (1); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) a listing of any program or activ10 ity for which the executive agency makes 

11 any substantial changes to the methodolo12 gies of the reviews conducted under para13 graph (1). 

14 ‘‘(b) IMPROVING THE DETERMINATION OF IMPROPER

15 PAYMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office 

17 of Management and Budget shall on an annual 

18 basis— 

19 ‘‘(A) identify a list of high-priority Federal 

20 programs for greater levels of oversight and re21 view— 

22 ‘‘(i) in which the highest dollar value 

23 or highest rate of improper payments 

24 occur; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) for which there is a higher risk 

2 of improper payments; and 

3 ‘‘(B) in coordination with the executive 

4 agency responsible for administering a high-pri5 ority program identified under subparagraph 

6 (A), establish annual targets and semi-annual 

7 or quarterly actions for reducing improper pay8 ments associated with the high-priority pro9 gram. 

10 ‘‘(2) REPORT ON HIGH-PRIORITY IMPROPER

11 PAYMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to Federal 

13 privacy policies and to the extent permitted by 

14 law, each executive agency with a program iden15 tified under paragraph (1)(A) shall on an an16 nual basis submit to the Inspector General of 

17 the executive agency and the Office of Manage18 ment and Budget, and make available to the 

19 public, including through a website, a report on 

20 that program. 

21 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted 

22 under subparagraph (A)— 

23 ‘‘(i) shall describe any action the exec24 utive agency— 


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1 ‘‘(I) has taken or plans to take to 

2 recover improper payments; and 

3 ‘‘(II) intends to take to prevent 

4 future improper payments; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) shall not include— 

6 ‘‘(I) any referrals the executive 

7 agency made or anticipates making to 

8 the Department of Justice; or 

9 ‘‘(II) any information provided in 

10 connection with a referral described in 

11 subclause (I). 

12 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY ON CENTRAL

13 WEBSITE.—The Office of Management and 

14 Budget shall make each report submitted under 

15 subparagraph (A) available on a central 

16 website. 

17 ‘‘(D) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO

18 INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B)(ii) 

19 shall not prohibit any referral or information 

20 being made available to an Inspector General as 

21 otherwise provided by law. 

22 ‘‘(E) ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDA23 TIONS.—The Inspector General of each execu24 tive agency that submits a report under sub25 paragraph (A) shall, for each program of the 


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1 executive agency that is identified under para2 graph (1)(A)— 

3 ‘‘(i) review— 

4 ‘‘(I) the assessment of the level 

5 of risk associated with the program 

6 and the quality of the improper pay7 ment estimates and methodology of 

8 the executive agency relating to the 

9 program; and 

10 ‘‘(II) the oversight or financial 

11 controls to identify and prevent im12 proper payments under the program; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) submit to the appropriate au15 thorizing and appropriations committees of 

16 Congress recommendations, which may be 

17 included in another report submitted by 

18 the Inspector General to Congress, for 

19 modifying any plans of the executive agen20 cy relating to the program, including im21 provements for improper payments deter22 mination and estimation methodology. 

23 ‘‘(F) ANNUAL MEETING.—Not less fre24 quently than once every year, the head of each 

25 executive agency with a program identified 


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1 under paragraph (1)(A), or a designee of the 

2 head of the executive agency, shall meet with 

3 the Director of the Office of Management and 

4 Budget, or a designee of the Director, to report 

5 on actions taken during the preceding year and 

6 planned actions to prevent improper payments. 

7 ‘‘(c) ESTIMATION OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) ESTIMATION.—With respect to each pro9 gram and activity identified under subsection (a)(1), 

10 the head of the relevant executive agency shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) produce a statistically valid estimate, 

12 or an estimate that is otherwise appropriate 

13 using a methodology approved by the Director 

14 of the Office of Management and Budget, of 

15 the improper payments made under the pro16 gram or activity; and 

17 ‘‘(B) include the estimates described in 

18 subparagraph (A) in the accompanying mate19 rials to the annual financial statement of the 

20 executive agency and as required in applicable 

21 guidance of the Office of Management and 

22 Budget. 

23 ‘‘(2) LACKING OR INSUFFICIENT DOCUMENTA24 TION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of 

2 producing an estimate under paragraph (1), 

3 when the executive agency cannot determine, 

4 due to lacking or insufficient documentation, 

5 whether a payment is proper or not, the pay6 ment shall be treated as an improper payment. 

7 ‘‘(B) SEPARATE REPORT.—The head of an 

8 executive agency may report separately on what 

9 portion of the improper payments estimate for 

10 a program or activity of the executive agency 

11 under paragraph (1) is attributable to lacking 

12 or insufficient documentation. 

13 ‘‘(d) REPORTS ON ACTIONS TO REDUCE IMPROPER

14 PAYMENTS.—With respect to any program or activity of 

15 an executive agency with estimated improper payments 

16 under subsection (c), the head of the executive agency 

17 shall provide with the estimate required under subsection 

18 (c) a report on what actions the executive agency is taking 

19 to reduce improper payments, including— 

20 ‘‘(1) a description of the causes of the improper 

21 payments, actions planned or taken to correct those 

22 causes, and the planned or actual completion date of 

23 the actions taken to address those causes; 

24 ‘‘(2) in order to reduce improper payments to 

25 a level below which further expenditures to reduce 


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1 improper payments would cost more than the 

2 amount those expenditures would save in prevented 

3 or recovered improper payments, a statement of 

4 whether the executive agency has what is needed 

5 with respect to— 

6 ‘‘(A) internal controls; 

7 ‘‘(B) human capital; and 

8 ‘‘(C) information systems and other infra9 structure; 

10 ‘‘(3) if the executive agency does not have suffi11 cient resources to establish and maintain effective 

12 internal controls as described in paragraph (2)(A), a 

13 description of the resources the executive agency has 

14 requested in the budget submission of the executive 

15 agency to establish and maintain those internal con16 trols; 

17 ‘‘(4) program-specific and activity-specific im18 proper payments reduction targets that have been 

19 approved by the Director of the Office of Manage20 ment and Budget; 

21 ‘‘(5) a description of the steps the executive 

22 agency has taken to ensure that executive agency 

23 managers, programs, and, where appropriate, States 

24 and local governments are held accountable through 

25 annual performance appraisal criteria for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) meeting applicable improper pay2 ments reduction targets; and 

3 ‘‘(B) establishing and maintaining suffi4 cient internal controls, including an appropriate 

5 control environment, that effectively— 

6 ‘‘(i) prevent improper payments from 

7 being made; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) promptly detect and recover im9 proper payments that are made; and 

10 ‘‘(6) a description of how the level of planned 

11 or completed actions by the executive agency to ad12 dress the causes of the improper payments matches 

13 the level of improper payments, including a break14 down by category of improper payment and specific 

15 timelines for completion of those actions. 

16 ‘‘(e) REPORTS ON ACTIONS TO RECOVER IMPROPER

17 PAYMENTS.—With respect to improper payments identi18 fied in a recovery audit, the head of the executive agency 

19 shall provide with the estimate required under subsection 

20 (c) a report on all actions the executive agency is taking 

21 to recover the improper payments, including— 

22 ‘‘(1) a discussion of the methods used by the 

23 executive agency to recover improper payments; 

24 ‘‘(2) the amounts recovered, outstanding, and 

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1 cent those amounts represent of the total improper 

2 payments of the executive agency; 

3 ‘‘(3) if a determination has been made that cer4 tain improper payments are not collectable, a jus5 tification of that determination; 

6 ‘‘(4) an aging schedule of the amounts out7 standing; 

8 ‘‘(5) a summary of how recovered amounts have 

9 been disposed of; 

10 ‘‘(6) a discussion of any conditions giving rise 

11 to improper payments and how those conditions are 

12 being resolved; and 

13 ‘‘(7) if the executive agency has determined 

14 under subsection (i) that performing recovery audits 

15 for any applicable program or activity is not cost-ef16 fective, a justification for that determination. 

17 ‘‘(f) GOVERNMENTWIDE REPORTING OF IMPROPER

18 PAYMENTS AND ACTIONS TO RECOVER IMPROPER PAY19 MENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—Each fiscal year, the Director 

21 of the Office of Management and Budget shall sub22 mit a report with respect to the preceding fiscal year 

23 on actions that executive agencies have taken to re24 port information regarding improper payments and 

25 actions to recover improper payments to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

3 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Oversight and Re4 form of the House of Representatives; and 

5 ‘‘(C) the Comptroller General of the 

6 United States. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required under 

8 paragraph (1) shall include— 

9 ‘‘(A) a summary of the reports of each ex10 ecutive agency on improper payments and re11 covery actions submitted under this section; 

12 ‘‘(B) an identification of the compliance 

13 status of each executive agency, as determined 

14 by the Inspector General of the executive agen15 cy under section 3353, to which this section ap16 plies; 

17 ‘‘(C) Governmentwide improper payment 

18 reduction targets; 

19 ‘‘(D) a Governmentwide estimate of im20 proper payments; and 

21 ‘‘(E) a discussion of progress made to22 wards meeting Governmentwide improper pay23 ment reduction targets. 

24 ‘‘(g) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT

25 AND BUDGET.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of enactment of this section, the Director 

3 of the Office of Management and Budget shall pre4 scribe guidance for executive agencies to implement 

5 the requirements of this section, which shall not in6 clude any exemptions to those requirements that are 

7 not specifically authorized by this section. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The guidance under para9 graph (1) shall prescribe— 

10 ‘‘(A) the form of the reports on actions to 

11 reduce improper payments, recovery actions, 

12 and Governmentwide reporting; and 

13 ‘‘(B) strategies for addressing risks and 

14 establishing appropriate prepayment and 

15 postpayment internal controls. 

16 ‘‘(h) DETERMINATIONS OF AGENCY READINESS FOR

17 OPINION ON INTERNAL CONTROL.—The criteria required 

18 to be developed under section 2(g) of the Improper Pay19 ments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010, as in effect 

20 on the day before the date of enactment of this section— 

21 ‘‘(1) shall continue to be in effect on and after 

22 the date of enactment of this section; and 

23 ‘‘(2) may be modified as determined appro24 priate by the Director of the Office of Management 

25 and Budget. 


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1 ‘‘(i) RECOVERY AUDITS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

3 ‘‘(A) CONDUCT OF AUDITS.—Except as 

4 provided under paragraph (3) and if not prohib5 ited under any other provision of law, the head 

6 of each executive agency shall conduct recovery 

7 audits with respect to each program and activ8 ity of the executive agency that expends 

9 $1,000,000 or more annually if conducting the 

10 audits would be cost effective. 

11 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—In conducting a re12 covery audit under this subsection, the head of 

13 an executive agency— 

14 ‘‘(i) shall give priority to the most re15 cent payments and to payments made in 

16 any program identified as susceptible to 

17 significant improper payments under sub18 section (a); 

19 ‘‘(ii) shall implement this subsection 

20 in a manner designed to ensure the great21 est financial benefit to the Federal Govern22 ment; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) may conduct the recovery audit 

24 directly, by using other departments and 

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1 curing performance of recovery audits by 

2 private sector sources by contract, subject 

3 to the availability of appropriations, or by 

4 any combination thereof. 

5 ‘‘(C) RECOVERY AUDIT CONTRACTS.—With 

6 respect to a recovery audit procured by an exec7 utive agency by contract— 

8 ‘‘(i) subject to subparagraph (B)(iii), 

9 and except to the extent such actions are 

10 outside the authority of the executive agen11 cy under section 7103 of title 41, the head 

12 of the executive agency may authorize the 

13 contractor to— 

14 ‘‘(I) notify entities, including in15 dividuals, of potential overpayments 

16 made to those entities; 

17 ‘‘(II) respond to questions con18 cerning potential overpayments; and 

19 ‘‘(III) take other administrative 

20 actions with respect to an overpay21 ment claim made or to be made by 

22 the executive agency; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the contractor shall not have the 

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1 curred or whether to compromise, settle, or 

2 terminate an overpayment claim. 

3 ‘‘(D) CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDI4 TIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The executive 

6 agency shall include in each contract for 

7 procurement of performance of a recovery 

8 audit a requirement that the contractor 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(I) provide to the executive 

11 agency periodic reports on conditions 

12 giving rise to overpayments identified 

13 by the contractor and any rec14 ommendations on how to mitigate 

15 those conditions; 

16 ‘‘(II) notify the executive agency 

17 of any overpayments identified by the 

18 contractor pertaining to the executive 

19 agency or to any other executive agen20 cy that are beyond the scope of the 

21 contract; and 

22 ‘‘(III) report to the executive 

23 agency credible evidence of fraud or 

24 vulnerabilities to fraud and conduct 

25 appropriate training of personnel of 


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1 the contractor on identification of 

2 fraud. 

3 ‘‘(ii) REPORTS ON ACTIONS TAKEN.— 

4 Each executive agency shall, on an annual 

5 basis, include in annual financial statement 

6 of the executive agency a report on actions 

7 taken by the executive agency during the 

8 preceding fiscal year to address the rec9 ommendations described in clause (i)(I). 

10 ‘‘(E) AGENCY ACTION FOLLOWING NOTIFI11 CATION.—Each executive agency shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) take prompt and appropriate ac13 tion in response to a report or notification 

14 by a contractor under subclause (I) or (II) 

15 of subparagraph (D)(i) to collect an over16 payment; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) forward to other executive agen18 cies any information that applies to that 

19 executive agency. 

20 ‘‘(2) DISPOSITION OF AMOUNTS RECOVERED.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts collected by 

22 executive agencies each fiscal year through re23 covery audits shall be treated in accordance 

24 with this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—The head of an ex2 ecutive agency shall determine the distribution 

3 of collected amounts described in subparagraph 

4 (A), less amounts needed to fulfill the purposes 

5 of section 3562(a) of this title, in accordance 

6 with subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E). 

7 ‘‘(C) USE FOR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

8 IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.—Not more than 25 

9 percent of the amounts collected by an execu10 tive agency through recovery audits— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall be available to the head of 

12 the executive agency to carry out the fi13 nancial management improvement program 

14 of the executive agency under paragraph 

15 (3); 

16 ‘‘(ii) may be credited, if applicable, for 

17 the purpose described in clause (i) by the 

18 head of an executive agency to any execu19 tive agency appropriations and funds that 

20 are available for obligation at the time of 

21 collection; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) shall be used to supplement and 

23 not supplant any other amounts available 

24 for the purpose described in clause (i) and 

25 shall remain available until expended. 


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1 ‘‘(D) USE FOR ORIGINAL PURPOSE.—Not 

2 more than 25 percent of the amounts collected 

3 by an executive agency through recovery au4 dits— 

5 ‘‘(i) shall be credited to the appropria6 tion or fund, if any, available for obligation 

7 at the time of collection for the same gen8 eral purposes as the appropriation or fund 

9 from which the overpayment was made; 

10 ‘‘(ii) shall remain available for the 

11 same period and purposes as the appro12 priation or fund to which credited; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) if the appropriation from which 

14 an overpayment was made has expired— 

15 ‘‘(I) in the case of recoveries of 

16 overpayments that are made from a 

17 trust or special fund account, shall re18 vert to that account; and 

19 ‘‘(II) in the case of other recov20 eries of overpayments— 

21 ‘‘(aa) for amounts that are 

22 recovered more than 5 fiscal 

23 years from the last fiscal year in 

24 which the funds were available 

25 for obligation, shall be deposited 


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1 in the Treasury as miscellaneous 

2 receipts; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) for other amounts, 

4 shall be newly available for the 

5 same time period as the funds 

6 were originally available for obli7 gation. 

8 ‘‘(E) USE FOR INSPECTOR GENERAL AC9 TIVITIES.—Not more than 5 percent of the 

10 amounts collected by an executive agency 

11 through recovery audits— 

12 ‘‘(i) shall be available to the Inspector 

13 General of that executive agency for— 

14 ‘‘(I) the Inspector General to 

15 carry out this Act; or 

16 ‘‘(II) any other activities of the 

17 Inspector General relating to inves18 tigating improper payments or audit19 ing internal controls associated with 

20 payments; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) shall remain available for the 

22 same period and purposes as the appro23 priation or fund to which credited. 

24 ‘‘(F) REMAINDER.—Amounts collected 

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1 paragraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) shall be depos2 ited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts, 

3 except that in the case of recoveries of overpay4 ments that are made from trust or special fund 

5 accounts, those amounts shall revert to those 

6 accounts. 

7 ‘‘(G) DISCRETIONARY AMOUNTS.—This 

8 paragraph shall apply only to recoveries of over9 payments that are made from discretionary ap10 propriations, as defined in section 250(c)(7) of 

11 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

12 Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900(c)(7)), and 

13 shall not apply to recoveries of overpayments 

14 that are made from discretionary amounts that 

15 were appropriated before the date of enactment 

16 of the Improper Payments Elimination and Re17 covery Act of 2010, as in effect on the day be18 fore the date of enactment of this section. 

19 ‘‘(H) APPLICATION.—This paragraph shall 

20 not apply to the recovery of an overpayment if 

21 the appropriation from which the overpayment 

22 was made has not expired. 

23 ‘‘(3) FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT

24 PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—The head of each 

2 executive agency shall conduct a financial man3 agement improvement program consistent with 

4 rules prescribed by the Director of the Office of 

5 Management and Budget. 

6 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM FEATURES.—In conducting 

7 a program described in subparagraph (A), the 

8 head of an executive agency— 

9 ‘‘(i) shall, as the first priority of the 

10 program, address problems that contribute 

11 directly to executive agency improper pay12 ments; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) may seek to reduce errors and 

14 waste in other executive agency programs 

15 and operations. 

16 ‘‘(4) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—Any nongovern17 mental entity that, in the course of recovery auditing 

18 or recovery activity under this subsection, obtains in19 formation that identifies an individual or with re20 spect to which there is a reasonable basis to believe 

21 that the information can be used to identify an indi22 vidual, may not disclose the information for any pur23 pose other than the recovery auditing or recovery ac24 tivity and governmental oversight of the activity, un25 less disclosure for that other purpose is authorized 


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1 by the individual to the executive agency that con2 tracted for the performance of the recovery auditing 

3 or recovery activity. 

4 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Except as pro5 vided under paragraph (4), nothing in this sub6 section shall be construed as terminating or in any 

7 way limiting authorities that are otherwise available 

8 to executive agencies under existing provisions of law 

9 to recover improper payments and use recovered 

10 amounts. 

11 ‘‘§ 3353. Compliance 

12 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL COMPLIANCE REPORT BY INSPECTORS

13 GENERAL OF EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, the In15 spector General of each executive agency shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) determine whether the executive 

17 agency is in compliance; and 

18 ‘‘(B) submit a report on the determination 

19 made under subparagraph (A) to— 

20 ‘‘(i) the head of the executive agency; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Homeland Se22 curity and Governmental Affairs of the 

23 Senate; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Oversight and 

2 Reform of the House of Representatives; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(iv) the Comptroller General of the 

5 United States. 

6 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OR USE OF A CENTRAL

7 WEBSITE.—The Council of the Inspectors General 

8 on Integrity and Efficiency (in this subsection re9 ferred to as the ‘Council’) shall develop a public cen10 tral website, or make use of a public central website 

11 in existence on the date of enactment of this section, 

12 to contain individual compliance determination re13 ports issued by Inspectors General under paragraph 

14 (1)(B) and such additional information as deter15 mined by the Council. 

16 ‘‘(3) OMB GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 

17 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 

18 Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 

19 in consultation with the Council and with consider20 ation given to the available resources and independ21 ence of individual Offices of Inspectors General, 

22 shall develop and promulgate guidance for the com23 pliance determination reports issued by the Inspec24 tors General under paragraph (1)(B), which shall re25 quire that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the reporting format used by the In2 spectors General is consistent; 

3 ‘‘(B) Inspectors General evaluate and take 

4 into account the adequacy of executive agency 

5 risk assessments, improper payment estimates 

6 methodology, and executive agency action plans 

7 to address the causes of improper payments; 

8 ‘‘(C) Inspectors General take into account 

9 whether the executive agency has correctly iden10 tified the causes of improper payments and 

11 whether the actions of the executive agency to 

12 address those causes are adequate and effective; 

13 ‘‘(D) Inspectors General evaluate the ade14 quacy of executive agency action plans on how 

15 the executive agency addresses the causes of 

16 improper payments; and 

17 ‘‘(E) as part of the report, Inspectors Gen18 eral include an evaluation of executive agency 

19 efforts to prevent and reduce improper pay20 ments and any recommendations for actions to 

21 further improve that prevention and reduction. 

22 ‘‘(4) CIGIE GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 

23 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 

24 Council shall, with consideration given to the avail25 able resources and independence of individual OfVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:55 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5389.IH H5389

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1 fices of Inspectors General, develop and promulgate 

2 guidance that specifies procedures for compliance 

3 determinations made by the Inspectors General 

4 under paragraph (1)(A), which shall describe proce5 dures for Inspectors General— 

6 ‘‘(A) to make the determinations consistent 

7 regarding compliance; and 

8 ‘‘(B) to evaluate— 

9 ‘‘(i) for compliance with the require10 ment described in section 3351(2)(B), the 

11 risk assessment methodology of the execu12 tive agency, including whether the audits, 

13 examinations, and legal actions of the In14 spector General indicate a higher risk of 

15 improper payments or actual improper 

16 payments that were not included in the 

17 risk assessments of the executive agency 

18 conducted under section 3352(a); 

19 ‘‘(ii) for compliance with the require20 ment described in section 3351(2)(C), the 

21 accuracy of the rate estimates and whether 

22 the sampling and estimation plan used is 

23 appropriate given program characteristics; 

24 ‘‘(iii) for compliance with the require25 ment described in section 3351(2)(D), the 


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1 corrective action plans and whether the 

2 plans are adequate and focused on the true 

3 causes of improper payments, including 

4 whether the corrective action plans are— 

5 ‘‘(I) reducing improper pay6 ments; 

7 ‘‘(II) effectively implemented; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(III) prioritized within the exec10 utive agency; 

11 ‘‘(iv) the adequacy of executive agency 

12 action plans to address the causes of im13 proper payments; 

14 ‘‘(v) executive agency efforts to pre15 vent and reduce improper payments, and 

16 any recommendations for actions to fur17 ther improve; and 

18 ‘‘(vi) whether an executive agency has 

19 published an annual financial statement in 

20 accordance with the requirement described 

21 in section 3351(2)(A). 

22 ‘‘(b) REMEDIATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an executive agency 

25 is determined by the Inspector General of that 


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1 executive agency not to be in compliance under 

2 subsection (a) in a fiscal year with respect to a 

3 program or activity, the head of the executive 

4 agency shall submit to the appropriate author5 izing and appropriations committees of Con6 gress a plan describing the actions that the ex7 ecutive agency will take to come into compli8 ance. 

9 ‘‘(B) PLAN.—The plan described in sub10 paragraph (A) shall include— 

11 ‘‘(i) measurable milestones to be ac12 complished in order to achieve compliance 

13 for each program or activity; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the designation of a senior execu15 tive agency official who shall be account16 able for the progress of the executive agen17 cy in coming into compliance for each pro18 gram or activity; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) the establishment of an account20 ability mechanism, such as a performance 

21 agreement, with appropriate incentives and 

22 consequences tied to the success of the of23 ficial designated under clause (ii) in lead24 ing the efforts of the executive agency to 


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1 come into compliance for each program or 

2 activity. 

3 ‘‘(2) NONCOMPLIANCE FOR 2 FISCAL YEARS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an executive agency 

5 is determined by the Inspector General of that 

6 executive agency not to be in compliance under 

7 subsection (a) for 2 consecutive fiscal years for 

8 the same program or activity, the executive 

9 agency shall propose to the Director of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget additional pro11 gram integrity proposals that would help the 

12 executive agency come into compliance. 

13 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Director of 

15 the Office of Management and Budget de16 termines that additional funding would 

17 help an executive agency described in sub18 paragraph (A) come into compliance, the 

19 head of the executive agency shall obligate 

20 additional funding, in an amount deter21 mined by the Director, to intensified com22 pliance efforts. 

23 ‘‘(ii) REPROGRAMMING OR TRANSFER

24 AUTHORITY.—In providing additional fund25 ing under clause (i)— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the head of an executive 

2 agency shall use any reprogramming 

3 or transfer authority available to the 

4 executive agency; and 

5 ‘‘(II) if after exercising the re6 programming or transfer authority de7 scribed in subclause (I), additional 

8 funding is necessary to obligate the 

9 full level of funding determined by the 

10 Director of the Office of Management 

11 and Budget under clause (i), the exec12 utive agency shall submit a request to 

13 Congress for additional reprogram14 ming or transfer authority. 

15 ‘‘(3) REAUTHORIZATION AND STATUTORY PRO16 POSALS.—If an executive agency is determined by 

17 the Inspector General of that executive agency not 

18 to be in compliance under subsection (a) for 3 con19 secutive fiscal years for the same program or activ20 ity, the head of the executive agency shall, not later 

21 than 30 days after the date of that determination, 

22 submit to the appropriate authorizing and appro23 priations committees of Congress and the Comp24 troller General of the United States— 


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1 ‘‘(A)(i) reauthorization proposals for each 

2 program or activity that has not been in compli3 ance for 3 or more consecutive fiscal years; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) proposed statutory changes necessary 

5 to bring the program or activity into compli6 ance; or 

7 ‘‘(B) if the head of the executive agency 

8 determines that clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara9 graph (A) will not bring the program or activity 

10 into compliance, a description of the actions 

11 that the executive agency is undertaking to 

12 bring the program or activity into compliance 

13 and a timeline of when the compliance will be 

14 achieved. 

15 ‘‘(4) PLAN AND TIMELINE FOR COMPLIANCE.— 

16 If an executive agency is determined by the Inspec17 tor General of that executive agency not to be in 

18 compliance under subsection (a) for 4 or more con19 secutive fiscal years for the same program or activ20 ity, the head of the executive agency shall, not later 

21 than 30 days after such determination, submit to 

22 the appropriate authorizing and appropriations com23 mittees of Congress a report that includes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the activities taken to comply with 

2 the requirements for 1, 2, 3, 4, or more years 

3 of noncompliance; 

4 ‘‘(B) a description of any requirements 

5 that were fulfilled for 1, 2, or 3 consecutive 

6 years of noncompliance that are still relevant 

7 and being pursued as a means to bring the pro8 gram or activity into compliance and prevent 

9 and reduce improper payments; 

10 ‘‘(C) a description of any new corrective 

11 actions; and 

12 ‘‘(D) a timeline for when the program or 

13 activity will achieve compliance based on the ac14 tions described within the report. 

15 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each executive agency 

16 shall submit to the appropriate authorizing and ap17 propriations committees of Congress and the Comp18 troller General of the United States— 

19 ‘‘(A) a list of each program or activity that 

20 was determined to not be in compliance under 

21 paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4); and 

22 ‘‘(B) actions that are planned to bring the 

23 program or activity into compliance. 

24 ‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE ENFORCEMENT PILOT PRO25 GRAMS.—The Director of the Office of Management and 


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1 Budget may establish 1 or more pilot programs that shall 

2 test potential accountability mechanisms with appropriate 

3 incentives and consequences tied to success in ensuring 

4 compliance with this section and eliminating improper 

5 payments. 

6 ‘‘(d) IMPROVED ESTIMATES GUIDANCE.—The guid7 ance required to be provided under section 3(b) of the Im8 proper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement 

9 Act of 2012, as in effect on the day before the date of 

10 enactment of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) shall continue to be in effect on and after 

12 the date of enactment of this section; and 

13 ‘‘(2) may be modified as determined appro14 priate by the Director of the Office of Management 

15 and Budget. 

16 ‘‘§ 3354. Do Not Pay Initiative 

17 ‘‘(a) PREPAYMENT AND PREAWARD PROCEDURES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each executive agency shall 

19 review prepayment and preaward procedures and en20 sure that a thorough review of available databases 

21 with relevant information on eligibility occurs to de22 termine program or award eligibility and prevent im23 proper payments before the release of any Federal 

24 funds. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DATABASES.—At a minimum and before 

2 issuing any payment or award, each executive agen3 cy shall review as appropriate the following data4 bases to verify eligibility of the payment and award: 

5 ‘‘(A) The death records maintained by the 

6 Commissioner of Social Security. 

7 ‘‘(B) The System for Award Management 

8 Exclusion Records, formerly known as the Ex9 cluded Parties List System, of the General 

10 Services Administration. 

11 ‘‘(C) The Debt Check Database of the De12 partment of the Treasury. 

13 ‘‘(D) The Credit Alert System or Credit 

14 Alert Interactive Voice Response System of the 

15 Department of Housing and Urban Develop16 ment. 

17 ‘‘(E) The List of Excluded Individuals/En18 tities of the Office of Inspector General of the 

19 Department of Health and Human Services. 

20 ‘‘(F) Information regarding incarcerated 

21 individuals maintained by the Commissioner of 

22 Social Security under sections 202(x) and 

23 1611(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 402(x), 1382(e)). 

25 ‘‘(b) DO NOT PAY INITIATIVE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is the Do Not Pay 

2 Initiative, which shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) use of the databases described in sub4 section (a)(2); and 

5 ‘‘(B) use of other databases designated by 

6 the Director of the Office of Management and 

7 Budget, or the designee of the Director, in con8 sultation with executive agencies and in accord9 ance with paragraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(2) OTHER DATABASES.—In making designa11 tions of other databases under paragraph (1)(B), the 

12 Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 

13 or the head of any executive agency designated by 

14 the Director, shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) consider any database that substan16 tially assists in preventing improper payments; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(B) provide public notice and an oppor19 tunity for comment before designating a data20 base under paragraph (1)(B). 

21 ‘‘(3) ACCESS AND REVIEW.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of iden23 tifying and preventing improper payments, each 

24 executive agency shall have access to, and use 

25 of, the Do Not Pay Initiative to verify payment 


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1 or award eligibility in accordance with sub2 section (a). 

3 ‘‘(B) MATCHING PROGRAMS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The head of the 

5 agency operating the Working System 

6 may, in consultation with the Office of 

7 Management and Budget, waive the re8 quirements of section 552a(o) of title 5 in 

9 any case or class of cases for computer 

10 matching activities conducted under this 

11 section. 

12 ‘‘(ii) GUIDANCE.—The Director of the 

13 Office of Management and Budget may 

14 issue guidance that establishes require15 ments governing waivers under clause (i). 

16 ‘‘(C) OTHER ENTITIES.—Each State and 

17 any contractor, subcontractor, or agent of a 

18 State, including a State auditor or State pro19 gram responsible for reducing improper pay20 ments of a federally funded State-administered 

21 program, and the judicial and legislative 

22 branches of the United States, as defined in 

23 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively, of section 

24 202(e) of title 18, shall have access to, and use 

25 of, the Do Not Pay Initiative for the purpose of 


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1 verifying payment or award eligibility for pay2 ments. 

3 ‘‘(D) CONSISTENCY WITH PRIVACY ACT OF

4 1974.—To ensure consistency with the principles 

5 of section 552a of title 5 (commonly known as 

6 the ‘Privacy Act of 1974’), the Director of the 

7 Office of Management and Budget may issue 

8 guidance that establishes privacy and other re9 quirements that shall be incorporated into Do 

10 Not Pay Initiative access agreements with 

11 States, including any contractor, subcontractor, 

12 or agent of a State, and the judicial and legisla13 tive branches of the United States, as defined 

14 in paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively, of sec15 tion 202(e) of title 18. 

16 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT OTHERWISE REQUIRED.—When 

17 using the Do Not Pay Initiative, an executive agency 

18 shall recognize that there may be circumstances 

19 under which the law requires a payment or award to 

20 be made to a recipient, regardless of whether that 

21 recipient is identified as potentially ineligible under 

22 the Do Not Pay Initiative. 

23 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director of the 

24 Office of Management and Budget shall submit to 

25 Congress an annual report, which may be included 


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1 as part of another report submitted to Congress by 

2 the Director, regarding the operation of the Do Not 

3 Pay Initiative, which shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) include an evaluation of whether the 

5 Do Not Pay Initiative has reduced improper 

6 payments or improper awards; and 

7 ‘‘(B) provide the frequency of corrections 

8 or identification of incorrect information. 

9 ‘‘(c) INITIAL WORKING SYSTEM.—The working sys10 tem required to be established under section 5(d) of the 

11 Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improve12 ment Act of 2012, as in effect on the day before the date 

13 of enactment of this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) shall continue to be in effect on and after 

15 the date of enactment of this section; and 

16 ‘‘(2) shall require each executive agency to re17 view all payments and awards for all programs and 

18 activities of that executive agency through the work19 ing system. 

20 ‘‘(d) FACILITATING DATA ACCESS BY FEDERAL

21 AGENCIES AND OFFICES OF INSPECTORS GENERAL FOR

22 PURPOSES OF PROGRAM INTEGRITY.— 

23 ‘‘(1) COMPUTER MATCHING BY EXECUTIVE

24 AGENCIES FOR PURPOSES OF INVESTIGATION AND


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1 PREVENTION OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS AND

2 FRAUD.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

4 this paragraph, in accordance with section 552a 

5 of title 5 (commonly known as the ‘Privacy Act 

6 of 1974’), the head of each executive agency 

7 may enter into computer matching agreements 

8 with other heads of executive agencies that 

9 allow ongoing data matching, which shall in10 clude automated data matching, in order to as11 sist in the detection and prevention of improper 

12 payments. 

13 ‘‘(B) REVIEW.—Not later than 60 days 

14 after the date on which a proposal for an agree15 ment under subparagraph (A) has been pre16 sented to a Data Integrity Board established 

17 under section 552a(u) of title 5 for consider18 ation, the Data Integrity Board shall respond 

19 to the proposal. 

20 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION DATE.—An agreement 

21 described in subparagraph (A)— 

22 ‘‘(i) shall have a termination date of 

23 less than 3 years; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) during the 3-month period end25 ing on the date on which the agreement is 


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•HR 5389 IH

1 scheduled to terminate, may be renewed by 

2 the executive agencies entering the agree3 ment for not more than 3 years. 

4 ‘‘(D) MULTIPLE AGENCIES.—For purposes 

5 of this paragraph, section 552a(o)(1) of title 5 

6 shall be applied by substituting ‘between the 

7 source agency and the recipient agency or non8 Federal agency or an agreement governing mul9 tiple agencies’ for ‘between the source agency 

10 and the recipient agency or non-Federal agency’ 

11 in the matter preceding subparagraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(E) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—A jus13 tification under section 552a(o)(1)(B) of title 5 

14 relating to an agreement under subparagraph 

15 (A) is not required to contain a specific esti16 mate of any savings under the computer match17 ing agreement. 

18 ‘‘(2) GUIDANCE AND PROCEDURES BY THE OF19 FICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET.—The guid20 ance, rules, and procedures required to be issued, 

21 clarified, and established under paragraphs (3) and 

22 (4) of section 5(e) of the Improper Payments Elimi23 nation and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, as 

24 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 

25 this section— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall continue to be in effect on and 

2 after the date of enactment of this section; and 

3 ‘‘(B) may be modified as determined ap4 propriate by the Director of the Office of Man5 agement and Budget. 

6 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE.—The head of each executive 

7 agency, in consultation with the Inspector General of 

8 the executive agency, shall ensure that any informa9 tion provided to an individual or entity under this 

10 subsection is provided in accordance with protocols 

11 established under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

13 this subsection shall be construed— 

14 ‘‘(A) to affect the rights of an individual 

15 under section 552a(p) of title 5; or 

16 ‘‘(B) to impede the exercise of an exemp17 tion provided to Inspectors General or by an ex18 ecutive agency in coordination with an Inspec19 tor General under section 6(j) of the Inspector 

20 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

21 ‘‘(e) PLAN TO CURB FEDERAL IMPROPER PAYMENTS

22 TO DECEASED INDIVIDUALS BY IMPROVING THE QUALITY

23 AND USE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES OF THE SOCIAL SECU24 RITY ADMINISTRATION DEATH MASTER FILE AND OTHER

25 DEATH DATA.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In conjunction with 

2 the Commissioner of Social Security and in consulta3 tion with relevant stakeholders that have an interest 

4 in or responsibility for providing the data, and each 

5 State, the Director of the Office of Management and 

6 Budget shall conduct a study and update the plan 

7 required to be established under section 5(g) of the 

8 Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Im9 provement Act of 2012, as in effect on the day be10 fore the date of enactment of this section, for im11 proving the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of 

12 death data maintained by the Social Security Ad13 ministration, including death information reported to 

14 the Commissioner under section 205(r) of the Social 

15 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)). 

16 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL ACTIONS UNDER PLAN.—The 

17 plan described in this subsection shall include rec18 ommended actions by executive agencies to— 

19 ‘‘(A) increase the quality and frequency of 

20 access to the Death Master File and other 

21 death data; 

22 ‘‘(B) achieve a goal of at least daily access 

23 as appropriate; 


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1 ‘‘(C) provide for all States and other data 

2 providers to use improved and electronic means 

3 for providing data; 

4 ‘‘(D) identify improved methods by execu5 tive agencies for determining ineligible pay6 ments due to the death of a recipient through 

7 proactive verification means; and 

8 ‘‘(E) address improper payments made by 

9 executive agencies to deceased individuals as 

10 part of Federal retirement programs. 

11 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 

12 the date of enactment of this section, the Director 

13 of the Office of Management and Budget shall sub14 mit a report to Congress on the plan described in 

15 this subsection, including recommended legislation. 

16 ‘‘§ 3355. Improving recovery of improper payments 

17 ‘‘The Director of the Office of Management and 

18 Budget shall determine— 

19 ‘‘(1) current and historical rates and amounts 

20 of recovery of improper payments, or, in cases in 

21 which improper payments are identified solely on the 

22 basis of a sample, recovery rates and amounts esti23 mated on the basis of the applicable sample, includ24 ing a list of executive agency recovery audit contract 

25 programs and specific information of amounts and 


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1 payments recovered by recovery audit contractors; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(2) targets for recovering improper payments, 

4 including specific information on amounts and pay5 ments recovered by recovery audit contractors. 

6 ‘‘§ 3356. Improving the use of data by executive agen7 cies for curbing improper payments 

8 ‘‘(a) PROMPT REPORTING OF DEATH INFORMATION

9 BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND THE DEPARTMENT

10 OF DEFENSE.—The procedure required to be established 

11 under section 7(a) of the Improper Payments Elimination 

12 and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, as in effect on 

13 the day before the date of enactment of this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) shall continue to be in effect on and after 

15 the date of enactment of this section; and 

16 ‘‘(2) may be modified as determined appro17 priate by the Director of the Office of Management 

18 and Budget. 

19 ‘‘(b) PROMPT REPORTING OF DEATH INFORMATION

20 BY THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND THE

21 OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.—Not later than 

22 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec23 retary of Veterans Affairs and the Director of the Office 

24 of Personnel Management shall establish a procedure 

25 under which the Secretary and the Director— 


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1 ‘‘(1) shall promptly and on a regular basis sub2 mit information relating to the deaths of individuals, 

3 including stopped payments data as applicable, to 

4 each executive agency for which the Director of the 

5 Office of Management and Budget determines re6 ceiving and using such information would be rel7 evant and necessary; and 

8 ‘‘(2) to facilitate the centralized access of death 

9 data for the use of reducing improper payments, 

10 may identify additional Federal sources of death 

11 data and direct the data owner to provide that data 

12 to 1 or more executive agencies for that purpose. 

13 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE TO EXECUTIVE AGENCIES REGARD14 ING DATA ACCESS AND USE FOR IMPROPER PAYMENTS

15 PURPOSES.—The guidance required to be issued under 

16 section 7(b) of the Improper Payments Elimination and 

17 Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, as in effect on the 

18 day before the date of enactment of this section— 

19 ‘‘(1) shall continue to be in effect on and after 

20 the date of enactment of this section; and 

21 ‘‘(2) may be modified as determined appro22 priate by the Director of the Office of Management 

23 and Budget. 


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1 ‘‘§ 3357. Financial and administrative controls relat2 ing to fraud and improper payments 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘agency’ 

4 has the meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5. 

5 ‘‘(b) GUIDELINES.—The guidelines required to be es6 tablished under section 3(a) of the Fraud Reduction and 

7 Data Analytics Act of 2015, as in effect on the day before 

8 the date of enactment of this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) shall continue to be in effect on and after 

10 the date of enactment of this section; and 

11 ‘‘(2) may be periodically modified by the Direc12 tor of the Office of Management and Budget, in con13 sultation with the Comptroller General of the United 

14 States, as the Director and Comptroller General may 

15 determine necessary. 

16 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTROLS.—The guide17 lines described in subsection (b) shall include— 

18 ‘‘(1) conducting an evaluation of fraud risks 

19 and using a risk-based approach to design and im20 plement financial and administrative control activi21 ties to mitigate identified fraud risks; 

22 ‘‘(2) collecting and analyzing data from report23 ing mechanisms on detected fraud to monitor fraud 

24 trends and using that data and information to con25 tinuously improve fraud prevention controls; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) using the results of monitoring, evaluation, 

2 audits, and investigations to improve fraud preven3 tion, detection, and response. 

4 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—For each of fiscal years 2019 and 

5 2020, each agency shall submit to Congress, as part of 

6 the annual financial report of the agency, a report of the 

7 agency on— 

8 ‘‘(1) implementing— 

9 ‘‘(A) the financial and administrative con10 trols described in subsection (b); 

11 ‘‘(B) the fraud risk principle in the Stand12 ards for Internal Control in the Federal Gov13 ernment published by the Government Account14 ability Office (commonly known as the ‘Green 

15 Book’); and 

16 ‘‘(C) Office of Management and Budget 

17 Circular A–123, or any successor thereto, with 

18 respect to the leading practices for managing 

19 fraud risk; 

20 ‘‘(2) identifying risks and vulnerabilities to 

21 fraud, including with respect to payroll, beneficiary 

22 payments, grants, large contracts, and purchase and 

23 travel cards; and 

24 ‘‘(3) establishing strategies, procedures, and 

25 other steps to curb fraud. 


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1 ‘‘§ 3358. Interagency working group for Government2 wide payment integrity improvement 

3 ‘‘(a) WORKING GROUP.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this section, there is 

6 established an interagency working group on pay7 ment integrity— 

8 ‘‘(A) to improve— 

9 ‘‘(i) State-administered Federal pro10 grams to determine eligibility processes 

11 and data sharing practices; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the guidelines described in sec13 tion 3357(b) and other best practices and 

14 techniques for detecting, preventing, and 

15 responding to improper payments, includ16 ing improper payments that are the result 

17 of fraud; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the sharing and development of 

19 data analytics techniques to help prevent 

20 and identify potential improper payments, 

21 including those that are the result of 

22 fraud; and 

23 ‘‘(B) to identify any additional activities 

24 that will improve payment integrity of Federal 

25 programs. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The interagency working 

2 group established under paragraph (1) shall be com3 posed of— 

4 ‘‘(A) the Director of the Office of Manage5 ment and Budget; 

6 ‘‘(B) 1 representative from each of the 

7 agencies described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

8 section 901(b) of this title; and 

9 ‘‘(C) any other representatives of other ex10 ecutive agencies determined appropriate by the 

11 Director of the Office of Management and 

12 Budget, which may include the Chief Informa13 tion Officer, the Chief Procurement Officer, the 

14 Chief Risk Officer, or the Chief Operating Offi15 cer of an executive agency. 

16 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—The working group estab17 lished under subsection (a)(1) may consult with Offices 

18 of Inspectors General and Federal and non-Federal ex19 perts on fraud risk assessments, administrative controls 

20 over payment integrity, financial controls, and other rel21 evant matters. 

22 ‘‘(c) MEETINGS.—The working group established 

23 under subsection (a)(1) shall hold not fewer than 4 meet24 ings per year. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 240 days after the 

2 date of enactment of this section, the working group estab3 lished under subsection (a)(1) shall submit to Congress 

4 a report that includes— 

5 ‘‘(1) a plan containing tangible solutions to pre6 vent and reduce improper payments; and 

7 ‘‘(2) a plan for State agencies to work with 

8 Federal agencies to regularly review lists of bene9 ficiaries of State-managed Federal programs for du10 plicate enrollment between States, including how the 

11 Do Not Pay Business Center and the data analytics 

12 initiative of the Department of the Treasury could 

13 aid in the detection of duplicate enrollment.’’. 

14 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

15 The table of sections for chapter 33 of title 31, United 

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—IMPROPER PAYMENTS

‘‘3351. Definitions. 

‘‘3352. Estimates of improper payments and reports on actions to reduce improper payments. 

‘‘3353. Compliance. 

‘‘3354. Do Not Pay Initiative. 

‘‘3355. Improving recovery of improper payments. 

‘‘3356. Improving the use of data by executive agencies for curbing improper 

payments. 

‘‘3357. Financial and administrative controls relating to fraud and improper 

payments. 

‘‘3358. Interagency working group for Governmentwide payment integrity improvement.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. REPEALS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) IMPROPER PAYMENTS INFORMATION ACT OF

2 2002.—The Improper Payments Information Act of 

3 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is repealed. 

4 (2) IMPROPER PAYMENTS ELIMINATION AND

5 RECOVERY ACT OF 2010.—The Improper Payments 

6 Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (Public Law 

7 114–204; 124 Stat. 2224) is repealed. 

8 (3) IMPROPER PAYMENTS ELIMINATION AND

9 RECOVERY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2012.—The Im10 proper Payments Elimination and Recovery Im11 provement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is re12 pealed. 

13 (4) FRAUD REDUCTION AND DATA ANALYTICS

14 ACT OF 2015.—The Fraud Reduction and Data Ana15 lytics Act of 2015 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is repealed. 

16 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

17 (1) GOVERNMENT CHARGE CARD ABUSE PRE18 VENTION ACT OF 2012.—Section 6(a) of the Govern19 ment Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 (5 

20 U.S.C. 5701 note) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

21 3512 of title 31, United States Code, or in the Im22 proper Payments Information Act of 2002 (31 

23 U.S.C. 3321 note)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3512 or 

24 subchapter IV of chapter 33 of title 31, United 

25 States Code’’. 


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1 (2) HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002.—Sec2 tion 2022(a) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

3 (6 U.S.C. 612(a)) is amended— 

4 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘Con5 sistent with the Improper Payments Informa6 tion Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note)’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘Consistent with subchapter IV of 

8 chapter 33 of title 31, United States Code’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘section 

11 2(h) of the Improper Payments Elimination 

12 and Recovery Act of 2010 (31 U.S.C. 3321 

13 note)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3352(i) of title 

14 31, United States Code,’’. 

15 (3) SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Section 2105 of 

16 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397ee(c)) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘Improper Payments Informa18 tion Act of 2002’’ each place that term appears and 

19 inserting ‘‘subchapter IV of chapter 33 of title 31, 

20 United States Code’’. 

21 (4) TITLE 31.—Section 3562(a) of title 31, 

22 United States Code, is amended— 

23 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

24 (1)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘section 3561’’ and in2 serting ‘‘section 3352(i)’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘agency for the fol4 lowing purposes:’’ and all that follows 

5 through ‘‘To reimburse’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘agency to reimburse’’; and 

7 (B) by striking paragraph (2). 

Æ 


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