The Pandemic Responsibility and Accountability Committee (PRAC) has released a new report for policymakers that highlights recommendations to aid in preventing and detecting fraud and improper payments in government programs.
The second chapter of PRAC’s Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity compiles lessons learned from reports issued by the Federal oversight agencies between January 2020 and January 2024, as well as interviews with stakeholders.
PRAC’s first chapter of the report, released in May, outlined a roadmap for Federal and state governments to prepare for the next emergency now.
Chapter two of the report features three key recommendations for legislators: remove barriers to data access and collection; enhance administrative remedies and expand OIG authorities; and amend legislation and regulations to fight fraud and reduce improper payments.
To remove barriers to data access, PRAC recommends lawmakers mandate the creation of a central data analytics center to give agencies and the oversight community access to governmentwide data.
“A central data analytics center that provides access to data and analytics services to agencies and the OIG community, including investigators, is critical for tracking federal funds and preventing and detecting fraud,” the report highlights. “Services could include identifying recipients receiving duplicate funding from multiple programs and detecting red flags for improper payments and fraud.”
This section also recommends that lawmakers amend policies to create statutory access to data and increase the quality of data collected by Federal reporting systems.
Members of Congress and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) have also called for a permanent solution for a data analytics center before the PRAC’s scheduled sunset date of Sept. 30, 2025.
For the second recommendation, PRAC says that “empowering OIGs with administrative remedies, subpoena authority, and extended statutes of limitations, as well as more flexibility in budget expenditures and hiring, will enable more agile and effective approaches to meet increased oversight demands and better protect federal funding.”
The final recommendation calls on policymakers to make critical amendments to current legislation to help fortify the framework governing Federal financial oversight and financial management.
“Legislation should define the beneficiaries of the funding and the expected program outcomes,” the report says.
