S. 1531 — Introduced in Senate

II 115th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1531 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 12, 2017Mr. Young (for himself and Mr. Manchin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To require reporting by the Secretary of Education on the implementation of recent Government Accountability Office recommendations. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Department of Education Accountability Act of 2017. 2. Reporting on implementation of GAO outstanding recommendations (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives. (2) Outstanding recommendation The term outstanding recommendation means a recommendation of the Government Accountability Office that— (A) relates to the Department of Education; (B) was made during the 10-year period preceding the date of enactment of this Act; and (C) is classified by the Government Accountability Office as open or closed, not implemented. (b) Initial report Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and to the Comptroller General of the United States a report listing all outstanding recommendations from the Government Accountability Office. (c) Comptroller General response Not later than 60 days after the Secretary of Education submits the report required under subsection (b), the Comptroller General shall identify for the appropriate congressional committees and for the Secretary of Education any discrepancies between the list of outstanding recommendations included in such report and the Government Accountability Office's list of outstanding recommendations. (d) Implementation report (1) In general Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and to the Comptroller General of the United States a report on the implementation status of each outstanding recommendation included in the report under subsection (b). (2) Justification The report required under paragraph (1) shall include— (A) for any outstanding recommendation the Department of Education has decided not to implement, a detailed justification for the decision; (B) for any outstanding recommendation the Department of Education has decided to adopt, a timeline for full implementation; and (C) an explanation for any discrepancies included in the Comptroller General response submitted under subsection (c).