Sponsor
James Lankford
Senator · R-OK
Senator · R-OK
The bill strengthens detection, measurement, and transparency around improper payments—helping save taxpayer dollars—at the cost of added administrative burden and potential diversion of existing agency funds, with no new funding provided.
Taxpayers: stronger detection and statistically valid measurement of improper payments plus adoption of GAO/OMB fraud-risk practices will reduce waste and save federal funds.
Taxpayers and federal staff: agencies must include CFO-certified improper-payment identification and progress on fraud controls in annual financial statements, increasing federal financial transparency and accountability.
Taxpayers and agencies: the Act authorizes no new federal spending and requires use of existing budgets/authorities, encouraging fiscal discipline and limiting expansion of program outlays.
Federal agencies and taxpayers: agencies will incur increased administrative and compliance costs to perform reviews, statistical measurements, CFO certifications, and expanded reporting requirements.
State/local governments, program recipients, and taxpayers: because agencies must use existing funds, insufficient budgets could delay or limit implementation of the law and its intended benefits.
Recipients of other services and state/local budgets: monitoring and compliance requirements could divert funds from other agency priorities, reducing services elsewhere.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Strengthens agency improper-payment identification, requires CFO certification and 10 years of fraud-risk reporting in agency financial statements, and prohibits new appropriations to implement the Act.
Official title: Amend title 31, United States Code, to improve the prevention of improper payments, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 13, 2025 by James Lankford · Last progress January 13, 2025
Requires federal agencies to strengthen how they identify and report improper payments and fraud risks, adds a statutory definition of agency chief financial officer (CFO) for financial reporting purposes, requires CFO certification in agency financial statements, and mandates annual reports to Congress on implementation of specific fraud-risk and internal-control practices for 10 years. The bill also forbids any new appropriations to implement these changes, so agencies must use existing funds and authorities to comply.