On Tuesday, the House passed the amended Senate version of the Federal Improper Payments Coordination Act of 2015. The bill is now headed to President Obama’s desk for his signature.
The bill opens up the Treasury Department’s “Do Not Pay” (DNP) program to states and their contractors. The DNP Business Center has been used by the Federal government to verify contractors, vendors and others seeking payments from the government. Another part of the bill requires agencies to review the Social Security Administration’s ominous-sounding “Death Master File” to ensure payments are not going to recipients that have since died.
The bill was unanimously by the Senate during the summer but stalled, winding its way through committees before being passed on a voice vote in the House on Tuesday.
One prompt for the bill was the report in March from the Government Accountability Office that the federal government paid out over $125 billion to ineligible recipients in 2014. That number was up 14% over the previous fiscal year.
Georgia Representative Tom Price was pleased with the outcome of the bill, citing the $125 bllion number as reason to doubt the accounting skills of the federal government.
“The federal government is the last entity you want to hire as an accountant. Last year alone, the Office of Management and Budget found the federal government made $125,000,000,000 in improper payments and expenditures – in many cases, benefits were issued to deceased individuals or others that do not qualify for assistance. Hard-working taxpayers deserve to have their money not flushed down the proverbial toilet. I was proud to be a House co-sponsor of this legislation which will provide States with another tool to rein in waste.”
The bill also requires the Treasury Department to report to Congress on the development of data analytics to improve the Do Not Pay program, the metrics used in determining whether efforts have resulted in a reduction of improper payments “or awards” and also target dates for implementing improved analytics operations.
The bill passed just as Senator Jeff Flake from Arizona released his first report on government waste. Flake’s report gave homage to retired Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn whose annual Wastebook was a can’t miss for government spending watchers.
Flake’s “Wastebook: The Farce Awakens” found numerous examples of questionable spending. First up on the list was “Paid Patriotism” from the Department of Defense. Flake cites a $6.8 million figure, although the military reported spending $53 million on “marketing and advertising contracts with sports team between 2012 and 2015.” Readers may recall Atlanta sports teams were among the biggest beneficiaries of the program. All three Atlanta sports teams were first in their respective leagues for money brought in for military tributes – the Falcons led the NFL with $879,000, the Braves led the MLB with $450,000 and the Hawks out-shot the rest of the NBA with $225,000.
Flake also cited the “Help a Hipster” movement that received nearly $1.3 million that the University of Washington received from the National Science Foundation to examine just how cold that koozie keeps your beer can.
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Just be sure to keep that koozie, and its contents, handy.
