S. 1409: Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012

112th Congress · introduced 2011-07-22 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2011-07-22 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012

Plain summary

Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 - (Sec. 3) Amends the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 to require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) identify, on an annual basis, a list of high-priority federal programs for greater levels of oversight and review of improper payments; (2) coordinate with executive agencies responsible for administering high-priority programs to establish semi-annual or quarterly targets and actions for reducing improper payments; and (3) provide guidance to agencies for improving estimates of improper payments. Requires agencies to report to their Inspectors General on an annual basis on any high-priority programs in which the highest dollar value or rate of improper payments occurs or for which there is a higher risk of improper payments. Requires OMB to make agency reports available on a central website. (Sec. 5) Requires each agency to review prepayment and pre-award procedures and available databases to determine program or award eligibility and prevent improper payments before releasing any federal funds. Establishes a Do Not Pay Initiative based on information from databases maintained by the federal government, including: (1) the Death Master File of the Social Security Administration (SSA), (2) the Excluded Parties List System of the General Services Administration (GSA), (3) the Debt Check Database of the Department of the Treasury, (4) the Credit Alert System or Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), (5) the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities of the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and (6) any other database designated by the Director of OMB that substantially assists in preventing improper payments. Requires the Director to: (1) provide to Congress a plan for the inclusion of other databases in the Do Not Pay Initiative, for agency access to the Initiative, and for multilateral data use agreements for carrying out the Initiative; (2) establish a working system for prepayment and pre-award review that includes the Do Not Pay Initiative; (3) establish a plan for improving the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of death data maintained by SSA; and (4) submit annual reports to Congress on whether the Do Not Pay Initiative has reduced improper payments or awards. Requires each agency to review all payments and awards for all of its programs through the working system not later later than June 1, 2013. Amends the Privacy Act to authorize each agency head and Inspector General to enter into computer matching agreements that allow ongoing data matching for detecting and preventing improper payments. Requires OMB to issue guidance: (1) for such agreements, including standards for reimbursement of costs, retention and timely destruction of records, and prohibitions on duplication and redisclosure of records; and (2) for Data Integrity Boards established under the Privacy Act to improve their effectiveness and responsiveness and ensure privacy protections. Directs the Attorney General to submit recommendations for increasing the use of, access to, and the technical feasibility of using data on the federal, state, and local conviction and incarceration status of individuals to identify and prevent improper payments and fraud. (Sec. 6) Requires the Director to determine the current and historical rates and amounts of recovery of improper payments and targets for recovering improper payments.

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate amended), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

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A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate amended)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE] · 4 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Susan M. Collins (R-ME)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Ballot initiative: A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate amended)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-112s1409.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/112/s>

Record fed-us-cong112-s1409 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112