S.Amdt. 3471

This amendment, submitted by Mr. Lankford, aims to add a section titled Safeguarding the Transparency and Efficiency of Payments to bill S. 2296. Its purpose is to update how the government handles and reports improper payments and fraud risk.

Key changes and additions include:

• New Definitions: It defines the chief financial officer for both executive agencies described in section 901(b) and those that are not.

• Identifying Improper Payments: Executive agency heads must now annually identify new programs or activities as susceptible to significant improper payments if they are in their first 4 years of operation and have or expect to have outlays over $100,000,000 in any of the first 3 fiscal years. An exception exists if the agency head concludes the program is not susceptible to such payments.

• Reporting Requirements:

• Agency heads must produce an estimate of improper payments using a methodology approved by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the agency's chief financial officer.

• Annual reports must be included with the agency's financial statement and include a certification from the chief financial officer regarding the reliability of identified programs and the monitoring of corrective action plans.

• Fraud Controls: For the first 10 fiscal years after enactment, agency heads must report to Congress on their progress in implementing financial and administrative controls, fraud risk principles from the Government Accountability Office, and Circular A-123 from the Office of Management and Budget. This includes identifying risks in areas like payroll, grants, and travel cards.

• Funding: The amendment explicitly states that no additional funds are authorized to carry out these requirements.