WASHINGTON, D.C. – This month, Congressman Guthrie (KY-02) voted in favor of a series of bills to combat fraud, increase program integrity, and ensure that benefits are available for those who need them most.
“Over the past months, Americans have been outraged by the alarming fraud schemes that have come to light. From California to Minnesota to New York, the schemes that have been uncovered have victimized the very individuals these programs are intended to serve and cost American taxpayers billions of dollars,” said Congressman Guthrie. “These are commonsense reforms to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal programs, and I am proud to have voted alongside my Republican colleagues in taking action to end fraud and hold bad actors accountable.”
Background:
This month, the House voted on various bills to help eliminate fraud in federal programs. This includes:
H.R. 7726, the Stop Child Care Scams Act, which is a comprehensive bill to address fraud in federal childcare programs by increasing fraud detection measures, improving audits, enhancing data sharing between states, and requiring states to take corrective action when improper payments or violations occur. This bill would also prohibit federal funds from going to states that fail to take action to counter fraud.
H.R. 7872, the No Aid for Ghost Students Act, would require the Department of Education to establish a fraud detection system that reviews and identifies suspicious student aid applications within the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program and requires schools to verify flagged applications before any money is disbursed to bad actors.
H.R. 6916, the Federal Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention Act, would prohibit those convicted of felonies, specifically related to fraud against the government, from participating in federal contracts or receiving grants and federal financial assistance.
H.R. 8312, the Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act, would require the federal government to preserve and distribute proven methods to combat fraud, developed during the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, as well as establish a permanent Inspector General (IG) in the U.S. Treasury for Fraud, Accountability, and Recovery (IGFAR) that assists individual agency Inspectors General in detecting and mitigating fraud in federal awards over $50,000.
H.R. 8464, the Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act, would prohibit federal agencies from issuing payments without correction when significant risks are identified and gives the U.S. Treasury new authority to return payment requests to agencies if they appear to be at risk for fraud.
H. Res. 1335, which condemns bad actors who seek to defraud the government and expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that government-wide fraud and improper payment prevention reforms will meaningfully improve the financial prosperity of the United States, and that Federal program eligibility should be verified before payment.
This week’s legislation builds upon Congressman Guthrie’s work as Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in combating fraud in federal health programs, like Medicaid and Medicare. You can learn more about this work here.
