,i #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #hdfd ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,april #bc1 #bjbf,mr4 ,comer 7for himself and ,mr4 ,arrington7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform ,a ,,bill ,to amend title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code1 to authorize pausing and segmenting payments1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,stopping ,fraudulent ,payments ,act4 #b4 ,authority to pause and segment payments 7a7 ,treasury payment voucher waiver authority 7#a7 ,amendment ,subchapter ,,ii of chapter #cc of title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by adding at the end the following3 #cccg4 ,authority to pause and segment payments 7a7 ,agency obligation ,to pause disbursement requests for corrective action ,the head of an agency that administers a federally funded financial assistance or public benefit program shall take a corrective action to temporarily delay1 condition1 or segment a disbursement request before the certification of a payment voucher under section #ccbe if1 as determined by an official designated by the head of the agency1 the agency-- 7#a7 has sufficient reason to determine that the payment presents an elevated risk of fraud based on a fraud-risk indicator or an improper payment resulting in financial loss to the ,government as estimated under the requirements of section #cceb2 or 7#b7 has been notified of an order from the ,secretary of the ,treasury described under subsection 7b74 7b7 ,treasury obligation ,to return payment voucher and issue corrective action order ,except where otherwise required by law1 the ,secretary of the ,treasury shall notify the relevant certifying official of an order to return a certified payment voucher submitted to a disbursing official under section #ccbe pursuant to the requirements of this section and issue a corrective action order to the head of an agency if the ,secretary of the ,treasury determines-- 7#a7 a determination has been made that the payment presents an elevated risk of fraud-based on a fraud-risk indicator or an improper payment under subchapter ,,iv2 or 7#b7 a payment payee has been flagged in the ,do ,not ,pay system1 as prescribed in guidance prepared by the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 or another ,treasury administered payment1 account1 or payee validation program or service4 7c7 ,agency documentation and time-,limited corrective action ,an action taken by an agency under subsection 7a7 shall-- 7#a7 be based on objective1 documented fraud-risk indicator2 7#b7 be narrowly applied to the portion of the payment presenting the elevated risk2 and 7#c7 be limited in duration to the minimum period of time necessary as determined by the agency to verify eligibility of the payee or accuracy of the payment per the program requirements or as stipulated under another law4 7d7 ,payee notification and time limit of paused disbursement requests ,with respect to a disbursement request that has been delayed pursuant to subsection 7a7 or a payment voucher that is returned pursuant subsection 7b71 the head of the agency shall take the following actions in accordance with any the regulations issued under subsection 7i7 along with any clarifying guidance issued by the ,secretary of the ,treasury in consultation with the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget3 7#a7 ,provide prompt notice to the payee1 as appropriate1 including a notification that-- 7,a7 a disbursement has been temporarily paused1 conditioned1 or segmented2 7,b7 identifies the nature of the fraud-risk indicator relied upon by the agency to make the determination2 and 7,c7 outline the process for the review period4 7#b7 ,establish a process tailored to the specific requirements and design of the agency program for a payee to contest any factual inaccuracy or provide clarifying information during the corrective action review period4 7#c7 ,issue such payment not later than #de days after the determination was made or the agency was notified1 but not later than #g days after the date on which the payee contests the corrective action under the process established pursuant to paragraph 7#b74 7e7 ,segmentation of low-,risk payments ,to the maximum extent practicable1 the head of each agency shall allow a routine1 historically consistent payment amount to proceed while temporarily holding an anomalous1 unusually large1 or high-risk portion of a payment1 or class of payments1 pending review and resolution of a corrective action4 7f7 ,exemptions for law enforcement activities ,the head of an agency1 in consultation with the ,secretary of the ,treasury and the ,attorney ,general1 may waive any provision in this section on a case-by-case basis if notified of or instructed by a ,federal law enforcement authority1 including an agency ,inspector ,general1 that the action will jeopardize an active criminal investigation or legal proceeding related to an effort to defraud the ,federal ,government or violate the ,false ,claims ,act 7#ca ,u4,s4,c4 #cgbi et seq474 7g7 ,limitation of liability ,no officer or employee of the ,federal ,government shall be personally liable for an action taken in good faith under this section4 ,an action taken under this section may not constitute a final determination of eligibility1 liability1 or wrongdoing on the part of a payee4 7h7 ,rule of construction for program authorizing statute ,nothing in this section may be construed to supersede any other provision of law with respect to the statute that authorizes the payment or program the payment is made under4 7i7 ,regulations ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this section1 and annually thereafter1 the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 in consultation with the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget1 shall issue regulations and establish procedures to administer the requirements of this section that shall be published in the ,federal ,register4 7j7 ,routine1 historically consistent payment amount defined ,in this section1 the term routine1 historically consistent payment amount means a payment amount that is consistent with previous payment history of the payee1 established program use patterns1 or other objective benchmarks determined by the certifying agency4 7k7 ,fraud-,risk indicator defined ,in this section1 the term fraud-risk indicator means an objective data point or analytic signal that indicates an anomalous payment pattern or increase in the volume of a payment amount1 a verified data mismatch1 network or behavioral anomaly1 or match identified by the ,do ,not ,pay system under section #cced and any other payment1 account1 and payee validation program or service provided by the ,department of the ,treasury that would result in financial loss to the government4 4 7#b7 ,technical and conforming amendment ,the table of sections for chapter #cc of title #ca1 ,united ,states ,codes1 is amended by inserting after the item for section #cccf the following3 #cccg4 ,authority to pause and segment payments4 4 7b7 ,relief of accountable officers ,section #cebg of title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7a77#b71 by inserting after the loss or deficiency was not the result of an illegal or incorrect payment the following3 1 or was made as a result of a good faith effort to comply with the requirements of section #cccg2 and 7#b7 in subsection 7b77#a77;,a77ii71 by inserting after the loss or deficiency was not the result of an illegal or incorrect payment the following3 1 or was made as a result of a good faith effort to comply with the requirements of section #cccg4