The bill aims to prevent fraud and improper payments by mandating agencies to verify payment vouchers thoroughly and amending responsibilities of agency officials. It also proposes establishing a "Do Not Pay" system to prevent and recover improper payments, emphasizing data confidentiality and penalties for unlawful disclosure. Additionally, it introduces a one-time fund usage report requirement for federal award recipients, aiming to minimize fraud and reporting burdens. The bill applies to awards over $50,000 and emphasizes the importance of preventing fraudulent and improper payments in government agencies through enhanced measures and quarterly reports on system effectiveness.
Pre-Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act
This bill expands efforts to identify, prevent, and recover improper payments of federal funds (e.g., overpayments, underpayments, payments to ineligible recipients).
Specifically, the Department of the Treasury must establish certain requirements that agencies must meet before directing Treasury to make a payment of federal funds. These pre-payment requirements must include verification of payee information, payment details, and fund availability. Further, agencies must, to the extent practicable, verify the accuracy of payee bank account information before directing Treasury to make a payment.
The bill also expands the Do Not Pay system, which provides agencies with access to centralized data for the purpose of verifying payee eligibility, and provides statutory authority for Treasury’s role as administrator of the system. The bill requires specified data assets to be added to the system and authorizes Treasury to (1) designate additional data assets for inclusion, and (2) access certain taxpayer and Social Security information for the system. The bill specifies that information obtained through the system may only be used to prevent and recover improper payments and establishes penalties for the unlawful disclosure of such information.
The bill explicitly requires executive agencies and state and local governments administering federally funded programs to screen payees against all appropriate Do Not Pay data assets and risk tools before making an award or directing a payment.
Finally, the bill establishes post-award reporting requirements for certain first-time fund recipients under federal programs for awards of $50,000 or more.