Regular Session 2021-2022 House Bill 2482 P.N. 2927

PRINTER'S NO. 2927

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

2482

Session of

2022

INTRODUCED BY GROVE, M. MACKENZIE, RYAN, GREINER, MILLARD, LEWIS

DELROSSO, HAMM, PICKETT, MENTZER, MOUL, OWLETT AND SAYLOR,

APRIL 4, 2022

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, APRIL 4, 2022

AN ACT

Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled

"An act relating to the finances of the State government;

providing for cancer control, prevention and research, for

ambulatory surgical center data collection, for the Joint

Underwriting Association, for entertainment business

financial management firms, for private dam financial

assurance and for reinstatement of item vetoes; providing for

the settlement, assessment, collection, and lien of taxes,

bonus, and all other accounts due the Commonwealth, the

collection and recovery of fees and other money or property

due or belonging to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

including escheated property and the proceeds of its sale,

the custody and disbursement or other disposition of funds

and securities belonging to or in the possession of the

Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims against the

Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and appeals to the

courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to the

Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth and

all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting

moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,

authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes

to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of

section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of

Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of

certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every

department, board, commission, and officer of the State

government, every political subdivision of the State, and

certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,

association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or

collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws

imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or

other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the

Commonwealth," providing for Federal funds oversight.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. The act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known

as The Fiscal Code, is amended by adding an article to read:

ARTICLE XIV-A

FEDERAL FUNDS OVERSIGHT

Section 1401-A. State agency Federal funding requirements.

Prior to accepting Federal funding, the Office of the Budget

and the agency which will be charged with accepting the Federal

funding shall provide a report to the Governor, General

Assembly, Auditor General, State Treasurer and the Independent

Fiscal Office, which includes:

(1) A summary of the program accepting the Federal

funding, including a citation to the statutory authority for

the program.

(2) The compelling reasons to accept the Federal

funding.

(3) The performance metrics and achievable goals of the

Federal funding.

(4) The amount of new Federal funding the agency

anticipates receiving.

(5) The time frame for the receipt of funds and when the

Federal funding ends.

(6) The Federal requirements, mandates and maintenance

of effort requirements attached to the Federal funding and

their impacts on the program, State funding and goals of the

program.

(7) A fiscal note disclosing the total cost of Federal

funding, including an analysis of the cost of the Federal

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mandates for the current fiscal year and the proceeding four

fiscal years. The fiscal note shall clearly delineate:

(i) Acquisition costs.

(ii) Personnel costs.

(iii) Maintenance costs.

(iv) Advertising costs.

(v) Cost-per-person for which the Federal funding

will assist.

(vi) Salvage costs.

(8) A statement as to whether the anticipated funding is

allocated through an existing or new Federal program and, if

an existing program, the current amount of General Fund or

State dedicated fund or account committed to the program.

(9) A statement as to whether additional State employees

are necessary to oversee or administer the Federal funds.

(10) The requirements associated with spending the

Federal funds, including any State match or cost share

requirements, percentage limitations and time frames.

(11) An analysis of internal controls used to prevent

and eliminate improper payments and fraud.

(12) The process by which the agency will operate and

distribute Federal funds to meet the performance metrics and

goals in paragraph (3).

Section 1402-A. Requirements on agencies.

State agencies receiving Federal funds shall:

(1) To the extent allowable under law, leverage the new

Federal funding to offset existing State General Fund

obligations rather than apply the Federal funds to new or

expanded programs.

(2) Only hire new employees in connection with or as a

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result of the new Federal funding to limited-service

employees whose employment shall not last beyond the

expenditure of the Federal funds.

(3) Financially manage Federal funding to ensure that

the loss of Federal funding does not result in a budget

deficit for the program.

(4) Provide complete access for the Independent Fiscal

Office to provide a quarterly update on Federal funding and

how it is meeting the performance metrics and goals as stated

in this article.

(5) Provide complete access for the Auditor General to

perform audits on the agencies' internal control processes.

(6) Report alleged or potential improper payments or

fraud to the:

(i) Attorney General.

(ii) Auditor General.

(iii) Office of Inspector General.

(iv) United States Attorney.

(v) United States Inspector General with oversight

of the Federal funds.

Section 1403-A. Transparency portal.

(a) Establishment.--An agency shall establish a transparency

portal on the agency's publicly accessible Internet website. The

transparency portal shall provide current information about

expenditures of Federal funding that is updated from the close

of the prior business day.

(b) Contents.--The transparency portal shall include all of

the following information:

(1) The eligible entities that received a portion of the

Federal funding.

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(2) The amount of Federal funding each eligible entity

received.

(3) The total dollar amount of Federal funding

disbursed.

(4) The amount of Federal funding that remains not

disbursed.

(5) How the agency is meeting the performance metrics

and goals under this article.

(6) An analysis and summary of improper payments under

the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010

(Public Law 111-204, 124 Stat. 2224) for Federal and State

funds.

eligible entities pertaining to Federal funding shall be posted

on the agency's publicly accessible Internet website under

section 1702 of the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3),

known as the Right-to-Know Law.

Section 1404-A. Report.

After the final disbursement of Federal funding received by

an agency, the agency shall submit a report to the General

Assembly, Inspector General and Auditor General on all of the

following:

(1) The final disbursement of the Federal funding.

(2) The use of the Do-Not-Pay Pilot Program established

under section 1405-A.

(3) The number of entities that were eligible and

ineligible to receive the Federal funding.

(4) The savings to the State Treasury as a result of the

identification of entities that are ineligible to receive

money from the Federal funding.

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(5) The results of the single audits of the program and

how the agency addressed the findings of each single audit.

(6) The results of any other Federal or State audit and

how the agency addressed the findings of each audit.

(7) The total amount of Federal funding received in each

county.

(8) The total improper payments under the Improper

Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (Public Law

111-204, 124 Stat. 2224) for Federal and State funding.

Section 1405-A. Do-Not-Pay Pilot Program.

(a) Establishment.--The Do-Not-Pay Pilot Program is

established in the Treasury Department of the Commonwealth. As

part of the program, the State Treasurer shall enter a

memorandum of understanding with the United States Department of

the Treasury that satisfies the requirements of this section.

(b) Use.--Before issuing a reimbursement for eligible

expenses under this article to an entity, the State Treasurer

shall utilize the Do-Not-Pay Pilot Program to ensure that the

entity is eligible to receive the reimbursement.

Section 1406-A. Improper payments and misuse of funds.

(a) Improper payments.--An eligible entity that receives

money from the fund and makes improper payments shall be held

liable by the Commonwealth under the Improper Payments

Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-204, 124

Stat. 2224) for the total amount of any disallowance of Federal

funds as a result of the improper payments.

(b) Misuse of funds.--An eligible entity that misuses

Federal funds shall be subject to civil action under the False

Claims Act (Public Law 97-258, 31 U.S.C. § 3729-3733).

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penalties specified under subsections (a) and (b) to each

eligible entity that receives Federal funding from the State

Treasury.

Section 1407-A. Nonacceptance of Federal funds.

(a) General rule.--If acceptance by an agency of Federal

funding is expected to cause a budget deficit within the General

Fund within five fiscal years, the Governor and the agency shall

not accept the Federal funding.

(b) School mandates.--The Governor, Department of Education

of the Commonwealth and school districts shall not accept

Federal funding that mandates a public school in this

Commonwealth to teach a specific program, topic, subject,

curriculum or standard.

mandates or maintenance of effort by an agency contradict State

law, the Governor and agency may not accept the Federal funding.

(d) Negative impact on enforcement of internal controls.--If

Federal funding requirements, mandates or maintenance of effort

by an agency does not allow, bans or hinders the agency to

enforce internal controls to prevent fraud and improper

payments, the Governor and agency may not accept the Federal

funding.

(e) New programs.--If Federal funding requires an agency to

establish a new program, the Governor and agency may not accept

the Federal funding.

Section 1408-A. Fiscal review of current and previous fiscal

year Federal funding.

The Independent Fiscal Office shall review current Federal

funding received by State agencies under the direct control of

the Governor and shall identify:

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(1) Mandates, requirements and maintenance of effort

requirements.

(2) Cost of the mandates, requirements and maintenance

of effort identified in paragraph (1), including:

(i) The prior five fiscal years' costs by fiscal

year.

(ii) The current fiscal years' costs.

(iii) The estimated costs over the next four fiscal

years for each fiscal year.

(3) Improper payments for each Federal program,

including:

(i) The total amount of Federal and State improper

payments over the previous five fiscal years.

(ii) The estimated improper payments for the current

fiscal year.

(iii) The estimated improper payments for the next

four fiscal years.

(iv) The improper payment error rate under

subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii).

(v) The reasons for the improper payments.

(4) If the agency that accepts the Federal funding has

met the Federal requirements and performance measures of the

Federal Government.

Section 1409-A. Applicability.

This article shall only be applicable to Federal funding

received by the Commonwealth after January 21, 2023.

Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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