Unified Savings and Accountability Act

Bill: 114-s-1888
Sponsor: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2015-07-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Computers and information technology
Congressional oversight
Currency
Debt collection
Department of the Treasury
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Government information and archives
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding
Homelessness and emergency shelter
Housing and community development funding
Housing finance and home ownership
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Medicaid
Medicare
Public contracts and procurement
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2015-07-29
text: 

Unified Savings and Accountability Act or the USA Act

 
Requires: (1) the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy to issue guidance to federal agencies to reinvigorate the role of the competition advocate, (2) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue government-wide savings goals for the strategic sourcing of goods and services by executive agencies required to designate or appoint a Chief Financial Officer, (3) the Chief Information Officer of each agency to submit to the OMB a report on potentially duplicative information technology investments, and (4) the modification of the Federal Acquisition Regulation to address the use of reverse auctions by federal agencies. 
 
Requires each federal agency to: (1) maintain adequate inventory controls and accountability systems for real property under its control, (2) develop workforce projections to assess the need of the federal workforce regarding the use of real property, (3) continuously survey real property under its control to identify property suitable for colocation or consolidation with other agencies and facilities, (4) establish goals to reduce excess and underutilized federal property, (5) identify leased space that is not fully used or occupied, and (6) conduct an inventory and make an assessment of real property under its control on an annual basis. 
 
Establishes a Federal Real Property Council to: (1) develop guidance and ensure implementation of an efficient and effective real property management strategy, (2) identify opportunities to better manage real property assets, and (3) reduce the costs of managing real property. Requires agencies with independent leasing authority to submit to the Council a list of all their leases.
 
Requires the General Services Administration to establish and maintain a database of real property under the custody and control of all federal agencies
 
Requires the OMB to establish a pilot program to dispose of any surplus property. 
 
Authorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to private nonprofit organizations to purchase surplus real property to assist the homeless.
 
Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services to submit to Congress a report on efforts to finalize plans and schedules for fully implementing and expanding the use of the Integrated Data Repository and on actions taken to plan, schedule, and conduct training on the One Program Integrity System. 
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the Secretary of State to deny, revoke, or limit a passport of an individual who has a seriously delinquent tax debt in excess of $50,000. 
 
Prohibits the Department of the Treasury from minting or issuing any coin, or engraving or printing any U.S. currency, that costs more to produce than the denomination of such coin or currency. 
 
Requires the Government Publishing Office (GPO) to make any document of the House of Representatives or Senate available only in an electronic format accessible through the Internet and prohibits the printing or distribution of a printed copy of any such document, with a limited exception for requests by any person for whom the GPO would have been required to provide a printed copy. 
 
Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to: (1) sequester all $1 coins bearing the design common to $1 coins minted and issued from 1979 through 1981 and in 1999; (2) undertake and report on efforts to improve the circulation of the $1 coin, other than those sequestered; (3) continuously conduct education programs to help businesses using or accepting cash to choose the best mix of $1 coins and bank notes to facilitate and reduce transaction costs; and (4) work with the Departments of State and the Treasury to ensure that countries that have adopted the dollar as a base unit of exchange and that place orders for supplies of $1 monetary units are fully briefed on the durability and longevity of $1 coins in high-circulation economies. 
 
Declares it to be U.S. policy that after $1 coins achieve sufficient market penetration, $1 coins should replace $1 Federal Reserve notes. Allows Federal Reserve banks to continue to place $1 Federal Reserve notes into circulation until the number of $1 coins placed into circulation exceeds 600 million annually, or until four years after enactment of this Act, whichever is earlier. 
 
Directs the Internal Revenue Service to develop a long-term strategy to improve its Internet web services provided to taxpayers. 
 
Directs HUD and the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs to: (1) analyze, each year, the effectiveness and long-term costs and benefits of their programs, actions, and strategies for avoidance or mitigation of foreclosure losses regarding loans for and mortgages on one- to four-family homes made, insured, or guaranteed by such Departments; and (2) provide additional guidance on loss mitigation efforts to servicers of such loans and mortgages. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-07-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-07-29
text: Introduced in Senate