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Safeguarding the Transparency and Efficiency of Payments Act

S. 2924 · 118th Congress · Sep 26, 2023 · Lineage

A BILL

To amend title 31, United States Code, to improve the management of improper payments, and for other purposes.

Section 1 Short title

This Act may be cited as the “Safeguarding the Transparency and Efficiency of Payments Act” or the “STEP Act”.

Sec. 2 Improper payments

(a)
Definitions—
(1)
In general— Section 3351 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(A)
by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (8) as paragraphs (3) through (9), respectively;
(B)
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

“(2) Chief financial officer—The term chief financial officer means—

“(A) with respect to an executive agency described in section 901(b), the Chief Financial Officer of the executive agency appointed under such section; and

“(B) with respect to an executive agency that is not described in section 901(b), the official serving as the senior executive responsible for managing the financial activities of the executive agency.”

(C)
in paragraph (3), as so redesignated—
(i)
in subparagraph (A)—
(I)
in clause (i)—
(aa)
by striking “published” and inserting “included”; and
(bb)
by striking “with” and inserting “in the document containing”; and
(II)
in clause (ii), by striking “statement” and inserting “document”;
(ii)
in subparagraph (C), by striking “accompanying materials to” and inserting “document containing;”
(iii)
in subparagraph (D), by striking “accompanying materials to” and inserting “document containing”; and
(iv)
in subparagraph (E), by striking “accompanying materials to” and inserting “document containing”.
(2)
Conforming amendments— Section 3353(a)(4)(B) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(A)
in clause (i), by striking “section 3351(2)(B)” and inserting “section 3351(3)(B)”;
(B)
in clause (ii), by striking “section 3351(2)(C)” and inserting “section 3351(3)(C)”;
(C)
in clause (iii), by striking “section 3351(2)(D)” and inserting “section 3351(3)(D)”; and
(D)
in clause (vi), by striking “section 3351(2)(A)” and inserting “section 3351(3)(A)”.
(b)
Estimates of improper payments and reports on actions To reduce improper payments— Section 3352 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
in paragraph (3)—
(i)
in subparagraph (B), in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “paragraph (1)” and inserting “paragraph (1)(B)”; and
(ii)
in subparagraph (C), by striking “paragraph (1)” and inserting “paragraphs (1) and (4)”; and
(B)
by adding at the end the following:

“(4) New programs and activities—In addition to the programs and activities identified under paragraph (1)(B), the head of an executive agency shall annually identify as susceptible to significant improper payments any program or activity that—

“(A) has or is expected to have outlays exceeding $100,000,000 in any one of the first 3 fiscal years of operation; and

“(B) is in the first 4 years of operation.”

(2)
in subsection (c)(1)—
(A)
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “subsection (a)(1)” and inserting “paragraph (1) or (4) of subsection (a)”; and
(B)
by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following:

“(A) produce a statistically valid estimate of the improper payments made under the program or activity, or an estimate of such improper payments that is otherwise appropriate using a methodology approved by—

“(i) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and

“(ii) the chief financial officer of the executive agency; and

“(B) report the estimates described in subparagraph (A) in accordance with subsection (j).”

(3)
by adding at the end the following:

“(j) Annual reports—Any annual report required to be made by the head of an executive agency under this section shall—

“(1) be included in full in the document containing the annual financial statement of the executive agency; and

“(2) include a statement by the chief financial officer of the executive agency—

“(A) certifying—

“(i) the reliability of the executive agency’s identification of programs and activities that may be susceptible to significant improper payments under subsection (a); and

“(ii) the validity of each estimate of improper payments under subsection (c); and

“(B) describing the actions of the chief financial officer of the executive agency to monitor the development and implementation of any corrective action plans reported under subsection (d).”

(c)
Financial and administrative controls relating to fraud and improper payments— Section 3357 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:

“(d) Reports—For each fiscal year beginning in the first fiscal year after the date of enactment of the Safeguarding the Transparency and Efficiency of Payments Act, and in each of the following 9 fiscal years, the head of each agency shall submit to Congress, in the report containing the annual financial statement of the agency, a report—

“(1) on the progress of the agency in—

“(A) implementing—

“(i) the financial and administrative controls required to be established under subsection (c)(1);

“(ii) the fraud risk principles in the Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government of the Government Accountability Office; and

“(iii) Circular A–123 of the Office of Management and Budget with respect to the leading practices for managing fraud risk;

“(B) identifying fraud risks and vulnerabilities, including with respect to payroll, beneficiary payments, grants, large contracts, and purchase and travel cards; and

“(C) establishing strategies, procedures, and other steps to curb fraud; and

“(2) that includes, as defined by the leading practices identified in the report published by the Government Accountability Office on July 28, 2015, entitled “Framework for Managing Fraud Risks in Federal Programs”—

“(A) an identification of—

“(i) each dedicated entity that leads the fraud risk management activities of the agency and the roles of each such entity;

“(ii) the responsibilities of each entity described in clause (i);

“(iii) each program and operation of the agency for which each entity described in clause (i) is responsible;

“(iv) the capacity of the entity described in clause (i), including any limitations, to strategically manage the fraud risks of the agency;

“(v) any program or operation of the agency for which there is not a dedicated entity that leads fraud risk management activities; and

“(vi) if applicable, a detailed justification for not having a dedicated entity, as described in clause (v);

“(B) the status of the fraud risk profiles for each program and operation of the agency, including the date of the last update and date of the next planned update of those fraud risk profiles;

“(C) with respect to each program or operation of the agency for which there is not a fraud risk profile, an identification of that program or operation and a detailed justification for not having a fraud risk profile for the program or operation;

“(D) the status of the antifraud strategies for each program and operation of the agency, including the date of the last update and the date of the next planned update of those antifraud strategies; and

“(E) with respect to each program or operation of the agency for which there is not an antifraud strategy, an identification of that program or operation and a detailed justification for not having an antifraud strategy for the program or operation.”