Enacts the "improper payments reporting and reduction act" to require state agencies to annually report on their improper payments and to seek to reduce or eliminate such payments.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
958--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 9, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KELLNER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Operations -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the "improper
payments reporting and reduction act"; and providing for the repeal of
such provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new article 4-B to
2 read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 4-B
4 IMPROPER PAYMENTS REPORTING AND REDUCTION ACT
5 Section 56. Short title.
6 56-a. Definitions.
7 57. Identification of susceptible programs and activities.
8 57-a. Estimation of improper payments.
9 57-b. Reports on actions to reduce improper payments.
10 58. Improper payment estimate guidance group.
11 59. Application of article.
12 § 56. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
13 "improper payments reporting and reduction act".
14 § 56-a. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms
15 shall mean:
16 1. "Agency" means any executive branch agency, department, division,
17 office, board, commission, public authority (other than a multi-state or
18 multi-national authority) or public benefit corporation, with an annual
19 budget of at least twenty million dollars, the head of which is
20 appointed by the governor.
21 2. "Improper payment" means any payment that should not have been made
22 or that was made in an incorrect amount, including overpayments and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01811-02-3
A. 958--A 2
1 underpayments, whether under statutory, contractual, administrative or
2 other legally applicable requirements. Such term shall include, but not
3 be limited to, any payment to an ineligible recipient, any payment for
4 an ineligible service, any duplicate payment, payments for services not
5 received and any payment that does not account for credit for applicable
6 discounts.
7 3. "Payment" means any payment, including a commitment for future
8 payment, that is made by an agency, a state contractor, or a govern-
9 mental or other organization administering a state program or activity,
10 and which derived from state funds or other state resources, or that
11 will be reimbursed from state funds or other state resources.
12 § 57. Identification of susceptible programs and activities. The head
13 of each agency shall, in accordance with guidelines promulgated pursuant
14 to section fifty-eight of this article and not less than once every two
15 years, review all programs and activities that his or her agency admin-
16 isters, and identify all such programs and activities that may be
17 susceptible to improper payments.
18 § 57-a. Estimation of improper payments. With respect to each program
19 and activity identified in section fifty-seven of this article, the head
20 of the agency shall:
21 1. estimate on an annualized basis the amount of improper payments;
22 and
23 2. report such estimate to the public, and the chairs of the senate
24 finance committee and the assembly ways and means committee on or before
25 January first of the calendar year succeeding the review conducted by
26 such head of the agency pursuant to section fifty-seven of this article,
27 and shall be posted on the agency's internet website and any other
28 website.
29 All agencies shall use the same method of reporting, as prescribed by
30 section fifty-eight of this article.
31 § 57-b. Reports on actions to reduce improper payments. With respect
32 to any program or activity of an agency with identified improper
33 payments pursuant to section fifty-seven of this article, the head of
34 the agency shall include with the estimate pursuant to section fifty-
35 seven-a of this article a report on what actions the agency is taking to
36 reduce the number of and amounts of improper payments, including:
37 1. a discussion of the causes of the improper payments identified,
38 actions taken to correct those causes, and results of the actions taken
39 to address those causes;
40 2. a statement of whether the agency has the information systems and
41 other infrastructure it needs in order to reduce improper payments to
42 minimal cost-effective levels;
43 3. if the agency does not have such systems and infrastructure, a
44 description of the resources the agency has requested to obtain the
45 necessary information systems and infrastructure; and
46 4. a description of the steps the agency has taken to ensure that
47 agency managers (including the agency head) are held accountable for
48 reducing improper payments.
49 § 58. Improper payment estimate guidance group. 1. There shall be
50 established, within the executive branch, the improper payment estimate
51 guidance group. Such group shall be composed of the director of the
52 budget who shall chair the group, the state inspector general, the
53 inspector general of the metropolitan transportation authority, the
54 welfare inspector general and two members appointed by the governor.
55 2. Within ninety days of the effective date of this article, the
56 improper payment estimate guidance group shall meet and, in consultation
A. 958--A 3
1 with the state comptroller, prescribe guidelines for the implementation
2 of the provisions of this article. All agencies shall cooperate with
3 such group to assist it as necessary in the development and promulgation
4 of guidelines. The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to:
5 a. the manner in which agencies shall review programs and activities,
6 and identify those which are susceptible to improper payments;
7 b. the manner in which agencies shall calculate statistically valid
8 estimates of the annual amount of improper payments in programs and
9 activities;
10 c. the manner in which agencies shall implement plans to reduce
11 improper payments; and
12 d. the manner in which agencies shall report estimates of the annual-
13 ized amount of improper payments in programs and activities, and
14 progress in reducing them.
15 3. The improper payment estimate guidance group shall thereafter meet
16 at any time at the call of either the director of the budget or the
17 state comptroller; provided that such group shall meet no fewer than
18 once every other year to review the guidelines.
19 § 59. Application of article. The provisions of this article shall:
20 1. apply to the administration of programs and improper payments made
21 in state fiscal years commencing on or after April first, two thousand
22 fourteen; and
23 2. require the inclusion of the estimates, reported pursuant to
24 section fifty-seven-a of this article, in the agency budget submissions
25 for state fiscal years commencing on or after April first, two thousand
26 fifteen.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
28 it shall have become a law, and shall expire and be deemed repealed 4
29 years after such effective date.
