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Introduced January 13, 2025 by James Lankford · Last progress January 13, 2025
The bill strengthens oversight, measurement, and fraud-prevention around improper payments—potentially saving taxpayer dollars—but it imposes compliance costs, long-term reporting obligations, security risks from disclosure, and may be unimplementable or reduce services because the Act bars new funding to carry it out.
Taxpayers will get stronger transparency and better chances to recover misspent federal funds because agencies must report improper-payment estimates and CFOs must certify estimate reliability, improving visibility into and accountability for improper payments.
Taxpayers and federal workers are likely to benefit from improved fraud detection and prevention because agencies must produce fraud-risk reporting and strategies covering payroll, beneficiary payments, grants, large contracts, and card programs.
Taxpayers and state/local governments may avoid early losses in new large programs because agencies must identify programs over $100 million as potentially susceptible to improper payments during start-up, enabling earlier controls.
Federal agencies, program participants, and taxpayers may see the Act go unimplemented or see reduced services because the bill bars any new appropriations to implement its requirements, preventing hiring, grants, or enforcement needed to carry it out.
Agencies will incur additional administrative and compliance costs to produce statistically valid improper-payment estimates and CFO certifications, which could require new staff or contractors and raise program overhead.
Smaller agencies and state/local programs may need to divert funds from program delivery to meet new monitoring and reporting requirements, reducing services for affected people.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Tightens federal improper-payment and fraud-control definitions and reporting, requires CFO- and OMB-approved estimates, adds CFO certification, and mandates 10 years of fraud-control reporting—without new funding.
Expands federal improper-payment and fraud-control rules by redefining key terms, adding a chief financial officer definition, and strengthening annual reporting requirements. Agencies must identify new programs at risk of significant improper payments (especially those in their first 4 years with large outlays), produce statistically valid improper-payment estimates approved by OMB and the agency CFO, and include improper-payment reports and a CFO certification with their annual financial statements. For the first 10 fiscal years after enactment, agencies must report on implementation of specified internal controls, fraud-risk identification and strategies, and progress on GAO-recommended leading practices. No new appropriations are authorized to implement these changes.