A bill to provide for an independent audit of the financial condition of the government of the District of Columbia.
PL 94-399 (H.R.11009), enacted 09/04/1976

PUBLIC LAW 94-399—SEPT. 4, 1976 
90 STAT. 1205 
Public Law 94-399 
94th Congress 
An Act 
To provide for an independent audit of the financial condition of tlie government 
of tlie District of Columbia. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of Ainerica in Congress assembled^ That there is hereby 
established the Temporary Commission on Financial Oversight of the 
District of Columbia (hereinafter referred to as the "commission"). 
(b) The commission shall consist of eight members as follows: 
(1) three Members of the Senate appointed by the President 
of the Senate (or any designee of any such Member so appointed, 
which designee shall act for such Member in his stead); 
(2) three Members of the House of Representatives appointed 
by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (or any designee 
of any such Member so appointed, which designee shall act for 
such Member in his stead) ; 
(3) the Mayor of the District of Columbia (or any designee 
of the Mayor, which designee shall act for the Mayor in his stead); 
and 
(4) the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia 
(or any designee of the Chairman, which designee shall act for 
the Chairman in his stead). 
(c) Five members of the commission shall constitute a quorum. 
(d) (1) A chairman and vice chairman of the commission shall be 
selected by a majority vote of the full commission from among the 
members thereof. The vice chairman shall act in the place and stead 
of the chairman in the absence of the chairman. 
(2) The commission is authorized to establish such operating pro-
cedures as it determines necessary to enable it to carry out its functions 
under this Act. 
(e) The first meeting of the commission shall be called by the 
majority leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives, jointly. 
(f) The commission is authorized to utilize the personnel of the 
government of the District of Columbia, with the approval of the 
Mayor, or the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, 
as the case may be, and the Committee on the District of Columbia 
of the Senate, the Committee on the District of Columbia of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate, or the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Repre-
sentatives, with the approval of the chairman of such committee. The 
commission is authorized to utilize, on a reimbursable basis, the serv-
ices and personnel of the General Accounting Office to assist the com-
mission in carrying out its functions under this Act. 
SEC. 2. (a) For the purpose of meeting the responsibilities imposed 
by the Constitution on the Congress with respect to the District of 
Columbia, it shall be the function of the commission, after consulta-
tion with the Comptroller General, to select such qualified persons 
as the commission may determine necessary for the development of 
certain plans on behalf of the government of the District of Columbia 
(including assistance in the implementation thereof) for the purpose 
Sept. 4, 1976 
[H.R. 11009] 
D.C. Government 
financial con-
dition, audit. 
D.C. Code 
47-101 note. 
Temporary 
Commission on 
Financial 
Oversight of the 
District of 
Columbia. 
Establishment. 
Membership. 
Quorum. 
Personnel, 
utilization. 
GAO services and 
personnel, 
utilization. 
Functions. 
D.C. Code 
47-101 note, 
u s e prec. title 1. 
90 STAT. 1206 
PUBLIC LAW 94-399—SEPT. 4, 1976 
System 
improvements 
plan, contracts. 
Reports to 
commission and 
Comptroller 
General. 
System design 
plan. 
of improving the financial planning, reporting, and control systems 
of such government. Plans to be considered for development and 
implementation pursuant to this Act shall include, among others, 
plans for the following: immediate improvement in financial control 
and reporting; assessing the scope of further necessary improvements; 
financial management system improvements; personnel-payroll system 
improvements; water-sewage billing and information system improve-
ments; purchasing and material management system improvements; 
property accounting system improvements; real property system 
improvements; welfare payments system improvements; human 
resources eligibility, payment, and reporting system improvements; 
health care financial system improvements; and traffic ticket system 
control improvements. 
(b) Each contract entered into with a person pursuant to subsec-
tion (c) of this section for the development of a system improve-
ments plan shall contain a provision requiring that person to include 
within such plan procedures for the establishment of an ongoing 
training program for operating personnel of the government of the 
District of Columbia whose duties involve matters covered by such 
plan or part thereof in order to provide training for such personnel 
in connection with the operation of such system. Each such contract 
shall further contain provisions comparable to those provided by 
Standard Form 32, section 1-16.901-32 of title 41, Code of Federal 
Regulations. 
(c) Upon the selection by the commission of each qualified person 
to develop and implement a plan pursuant to this section, the chair-
man of the commission shall enter into a negotiated fixed price 
contract or contracts with that person for the development and imple-
mentation of such plan. 
(d) (1) Each such contract so entered into shall set forth the scope 
of the work to be performed, amounts to be paid thereunder, and a 
schedule of reporting and completion dates, including a schedule of 
implementation dates, for each portion of such work. Each contractor 
shall have full access to such books, individuals, accounts, financial 
records, reports, files, and other papers, things, or property of the 
government of the District of Columbia as such contractor deems 
necessary to complete such contract. The Comptroller General shall 
have full access to all documents produced under each contract. 
(2) After establishment of the schedule for completing each such 
contract and until the completion of such contract, each contractor 
shall report, at such time as such contract shall provide, to the com-
mission and the Comptroller General on the progress toward comple-
tion of such contract, except that each such contractor shall report 
at least once during the one-hundred-and-eighty-day period after 
establishment of such schedule for completion of such contract. 
(e) (1) With respect to any such contract or part thereof involving 
the design (including a preliminary design) of a S3^stem referred to 
in subsection (a) of this section, the contractor, upon the completion 
of the plan or part relating to such design (including procedures for 
its implementation), shall submit such plan or part, together with a 
schedule for its implementation, to the Comptroller General. 
(2) With respect to any such contract involving work other than 
the design of such a system, the contractor, upon the completion of the 
plan or part thereof relating to such work, shall submit such plan or 
part thereof, together with a schedule for implementing such plan 
or part, to the Comptroller General. 
PUBLIC LAW 94-399—SEPT. 4, 1976 
90 STAT. 1207 
(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of paragraphs (1) 
and (2) of this subsection, in no case shall any contractor under this 
Act submit a plan, part, or schedule to the Comptroller General unless 
such plan, part, or schedule has first been submitted by that contractor 
to the contractor responsible for the development and implementation 
of a financial management system improvements plan for such con-
tractor's review, comments, and recommendations. A copy of such 
comments and recommendations, if any, shall be submitted, together 
with such plan, part, or schedule, to the Comptroller General in accord-
ance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection. 
(4) Within the sixty-day period following the date of the receipt 
by him of such plan or part thereof, and after consultation with the 
commission, the Comptroller General shall approve, disapprove, or 
modify such plan or part (including any schedule for the implementa-
tion thereof), in whole or in part. On or before the expiration of such 
sixty-day period, the Comptroller General shall submit such plan or 
part, as so approved, modified, or disapproved to the Congress for 
its consideration, together with his reasons for such modification or 
disapproval. 
(f) (1) Each such plan or part thereof so approved by the Comp-
troller General without modification shall be deemed on the date of 
such approval, to be a part of the financial planning, reporting, 
accounting, control, and operating procedures of the government of 
the District of Columbia. Each such plan or part thereof modified by 
the Comptroller General shall, upon the expiration of the forty-five-
day period of continuous session of the Congress following the date 
on which such modified plan or part thereof is so submitted to the 
Congress, be deemed to be a part of the financial planning, reporting, 
accounting, control, and operating procedures of the government of 
the District of Columbia, unless within such forty-five-day period, the 
Congress adopts a concurrent resolution disapproving the action of 
the Comptroller General with respect to such modifications. In any 
case in which any such concurrent resolution is so adopted by the 
Congress, such plan or part thereof, as it existed immediately prior 
to any such modification, shall be deemed a part of such procedures as 
of the date of the adoption by Congress of such concurrent resolution. 
No such plan or part thereof disapproved by the Comptroller General 
shall take effect, unless, within such forty-five-day period following 
the date of its submission to the Congress, the Congress adopts a 
concurrent resolution disapproving the action of the Comptroller Gen-
eral in disapproving such plan or part thereof. If such action of the 
Comptroller General is so disapproved, such plan or part thereof shall 
be deemed a part of such procedures as of the date of the adoption by 
Congress of such concurrent resolution. 
(2) For purposes of this section, the continuity of a session of 
Congress is broken only by an adjournment of the Congress sine die, 
and the days on which either House is not in session because of an 
adjournment of more than three days to a day certain are excluded 
in computation of such forty-five-day period. 
(g) With respect to any such plan or part so deemed to be a part 
of the financial planning, reporting, accounting, control, and operat-
ing procedures of the government of the District of Columbia under 
subsection (f) (1), the Mayor of the District of Columbia, with the 
assistance of the contractor responsible for such plan or part, shall 
implement such plan or part for the government of the District of 
Columbia in accordance therewith. The Comptroller General shall 
Approval. 
Plan, submittal to 
Congress. 
Plan imple-
mentation. 
90 STAT. 1208 
PUBLIC LAW 94-399—SEPT. 4, 1976 
Balance sheet 
audit. 
D.C. Code 
47-101 note, 
use prec. title 1. 
Notification. 
Audit. 
Audit results, 
submittal to 
Congress, 
President, 
Council of the 
District of 
Columbia, Mayor, 
and Comptroller 
General. 
Fiscal year audit. 
D.C. Code 
47-120-2. 
monitor such implementation and report as he deems appropriate to 
the commission. 
SEC. 3. (a) (1) For the purpose of meeting the oversight responsi-
bilities imposed by the Constitution on the Congress with respect to 
the District of Columbia, the Congress hereby authorizes the com-
mission, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (2) of this 
subsection, to cause to be undertaken, on behalf of the government 
of the District of Columbia, by a certified public accountant licensed 
in the District of Columbia, a balance sheet audit of the financial 
position of the District of Columbia as of September 30, 1977. Such 
audit may— 
(A) include an identification of assets, liabilities, accumulated 
surplus or deficit; and 
(B) exclude statements of revenues and expenses, changes in 
fund balances, statements of changes in financial position for 
enterprise funds, and property and equipment. 
(2) The balance sheet audit authorized by paragraph (1) of this 
subsection shall cover the financial position of the District of Colum-
bia as of September 30, 1977, unless the commission, on or before 
August 1, 1977, is notified by the Comptroller General to the effect 
that such an audit as of that date is not practicable, in which case the 
commission is authorized to cause to be undertaken a balance sheet 
audit of the financial position of the District of Columbia as of such 
date as the Comptroller General shall recommend to the commission. 
(b) The commission is further authorized to cause to be under-
taken, on behalf of the government of the District of Columbia, by a 
certified public accountant licensed in the District of Columbia, an 
audit or audits of the financial position and results of operations of 
the District of Columbia for each fiscal year or years next following 
September 30, 1977, or the date recommended \>y the Comptroller 
General for the conduct of a balance sheet audit pursuant to subsec-
tion (a) of this section, whichever last occurs, and which precede the 
fiscal year commencing October 1,1979. 
(c) Upon the selection by the commission of each qualified person 
to conduct an audit pursuant to this section, the chairman of the 
commission shall enter into a negotiated fixed price contract with that 
person for that purpose. Each such audit shall be carried out in 
accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and the finan-
cial statements shall be prepared in accordance with generally accepted 
accounting principles. The results of each such audit shall be sub-
mitted to the Congress, the President of the United States, the Council 
of the District of Columbia, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, 
and the Comptroller General. 
(d) Such contractor shall have full access to such books, individuals, 
accounts, financial records, reports, files, tax returns, and other papers, 
things, or property of the government of the District of Columbia as 
such contractor deems necessary to complete each such audit required 
by such contract. 
SEC. 4. (a) For the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1979, and each 
fiscal year thereafter, the government of the District of Columbia shall 
conduct, out of funds of the government of the District of Columbia, 
an audit of the financial operations of such government. Each such 
audit shall be conducted by a certified public accountant licensed in 
the District of Columbia and carried out in accordance with generally 
acccepted auditing standards and the financial statements shall be 
prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. 
PUBLIC LAW 94-399—SEPT. 4, 1976 
90 STAT. 1209 
(b) For the purpose of conducting an audit for each such fiscal 
year as required by subsection (a) of this section, the Mayor of the 
District of Columbia shall, on or after January 2,1979, select, subject 
to the advice and consent of the Council of the District of Columbia, 
a qualified person to conduct such audits for the fiscal year commenc-
ing October 1, 1979, and the next following three fiscal years. There-
after, each individual elected as Mayor in a general election held for 
Mayor of the District of Columbia shall, on or after January 2 next 
following his or her election to, and the assuming of, the Office of 
Mayor, select, subject to the advice and consent of the Council of the 
District of Columbia, a qualified pereon to conduct such audits for 
the fiscal year commencing October 1 of the calendar year in which 
such Mayor takes office, and the next following three fiscal years. The 
person previously selected for a four-year period shall not succeed 
himself or herself. If the Council fails to act on any such selection 
within a thirty-day period following the date on which it receives 
from the Mayor the name of such person so selected, the Mayor shall 
be authorized to enter into a contract with that person for the conduct 
of such audits. If any person so selected by the Mayor to conduct 
any such audits for such fiscal years is rejected by the Council, the 
Mayor shall submit to the Council the name of another qualified person 
selected by the Mayor to conduct such audits. In the event that the 
Council rejects the second person so selected by the Mayor, the Mayor 
shall, within thirty days following that rejection, notify the chairman 
of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the chairman 
of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, 
in writing, of that fact. Within fifteen days following the receipt of 
that notice, such chairmen shall jointly select a person to conduct 
such audits and shall inform the Mayor, in writing, of the name of 
the person so selected. Within ten days following the receipt by the 
Mayor of such name, the INIayor shall enter into a contract with such 
person pursuant to which that person shall conduct such audits for 
such fiscal years as herein provided. 
(c) The Mayor shall submit a copy of the audit report with respect 
to each such audit so conducted to the Congress, the President of the 
United States, the Council of the District of Columbia, and the Comp-
troller General. 
SEC. 5. (a) For the purpose of making payments under contracts 
entered into under sections 2 and 3 of this Act, for reimbursing the 
Comptroller General under subsection (f) of the first section of this 
Act, and for meeting other expenses incurred by the commission under 
this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated to the commission the 
sum of $16,000,000, of which $8,000,000 shall be from funds in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and $8,000,000 shall be from 
funds in the Treasury to the credit of the District of Columbia. Sums 
appropriated pursuant to this section are authorized to remain avail-
able until expended. 
(b) No funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section 
out of funds in the Treasury to the credit of the District of Columbia 
may be used for any payment under any contract entered into pursuant 
to section 2 or 3 of this Act, for any payment as reimbursement to the 
General Accounting Office, or for expenses of the commission, in an 
amount greater than 50 per centum of the total amount of any such 
payment. 
(c) The chairman of the commission may enter into contracts under 
sections 2 and 3 of this Act only to the extent and in such amounts as 
are provided in appropriation Acts. 
Fiscal year 
audits. 
Notice to 
congressional 
committees. 
Report, submittal 
to Congress, 
President, 
Council of the 
District of 
Columbia, and 
Comptroller 
General. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
D.C. Code 
47-101 note. 
90 STAT. 1210 
PUBLIC LAW 94-399—SEPT. 4, 1976 
Definitions. 
D.C. Code 
47-101 note. 
Termination. 
D.C. Code 
47-101 note. 
SEC. 6. As used in this Act, the term— 
(1) "person" means any individual, partnership, firm, corpo-
ration, or other entity; and 
(2) "government of the District of Columbia" includes the 
Mayor of the District of Columbia, the Council of the District 
of Columbia, the courts of the District of Columbia, and all 
agencies (as defined in paragraph (3) of section 3 of the District 
of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act (D.C. Code, sec. 
1-1502(3))). 
SEC. 7, Thirty days after notification by the Comptroller General 
to the commission of the completion and implementation of all plans 
and designs under this Act, or thirty days after final payment of all 
contracts entered into pursuant to sections 2 and 3 of this Act, which-
ever last occure, the commission shall cease to exist. 
Approved September 4, 1976. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 94-1094 (Comm. on the District of Columbia) and No. 94-1381 
(Comm. of Conference). 
SENATE REPORT No. 94-1015 (Comm. on the District of Columbia). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 122 (1976): 
May 24, considered and passed House. 
July 1, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
Aug. 23, House agreed to conference report. 
Aug. 24, Senate agreed to conference report.