Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2009

Bill: 111-hr-216
Sponsor: Rep. Wilson, Joe [R-SC-2]
Introduced: 2009-01-06 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Consumer credit
Defense spending
Department of Defense
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
General Services Administration
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government studies and investigations
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Public contracts and procurement
Travel and tourism

Summary:
action_date: 2009-01-06
text: 
Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2009 - Requires the head of each executive agency, except the Department of Defense (DOD), to: (1) establish safeguards and internal controls for purchase cards, convenience checks, and travel cards; and (2) prescribe regulations implementing such safeguards and controls that provide for adverse personnel actions or other punishment against employees for card violations, negligence, misuse, abuse, or fraud. 
 
Requires each agency Inspector General to: (1) periodically conduct risk assessments of agency purchase and travel card programs and associated internal controls, analyze weaknesses and the frequency of improper activity, and develop a plan to determine the scope, frequency, and number of periodic audits of cardholders; (2) perform periodic audits of card holders and report results to the agency head; and (3) report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OBM) and the Comptroller General on the implementation of recommendations to address audit findings.
 
Requires DOD regulations that govern the use and control of purchase cards and convenience checks that are issued to DOD personnel to include safeguards and internal controls to ensure that: (1) the Inspector Generals of DOD, the Army, the Navy, and the Airforce periodically conduct risk assessments of the DOD purchase card program and associated internal controls, analyze weaknesses and the frequency of improper activity, and develop a plan to determine the scope, frequency, and number of periodic audits of cardholders; (2) DOD utilizes technologies to prevent or identify fraudulent purchases, including controlling merchant codes and utilizing statistical machine learning and pattern recognition technologies that review the risk of every transaction; and (3) DOD invalidates the purchase card of terminated or transferred employees. 
 
Amends the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 to require each agency head to establish safeguards and internal controls over travel charge cards. Requires the Administrator of General Services to prescribe regulations governing the implementation of such safeguards and internal controls.
 
Requires the heads of agencies that have employees who use centrally billed accounts to establish safeguards and internal controls to ensure that agencies: (1) compare items submitted on an employee's travel voucher with items paid using such an account; (2) dispute unauthorized charges and track disputed transactions to ensure appropriate resolution; and (3) submit requests for refunds for fully or partially unused tickets to the holder of the applicable contract for a centrally billed account. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-05-04
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement.
action_date: 2009-01-06
text: Referred to House Armed Services
action_date: 2009-01-06
text: Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2009-01-06
text: Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform
action_date: 2009-01-06
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2009-01-06
text: Introduced in House