Bill Text: PA HB1483 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Providing for a fraud examination of the Department of Public Welfare.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 39-6)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-09 - Referred to HEALTH [HB1483 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-HB1483-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 1808
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1483 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY DENLINGER, GINGRICH, CUTLER, BAKER, BOYD, BROOKS, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, D. COSTA, DAVIDSON, EVERETT, FLECK, GEIST, GIBBONS, GILLEN, GRELL, GROVE, HARRIS, HESS, HICKERNELL, HUTCHINSON, KAUFFMAN, MAJOR, METCALFE, MILLARD, MILLER, MILNE, MOUL, MURT, PICKETT, PYLE, READSHAW, REICHLEY, ROAE, SAYLOR, SIMMONS, STERN, SWANGER, TALLMAN, TAYLOR, TOEPEL, VULAKOVICH, WAGNER AND WATSON, MAY 9, 2011
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, MAY 9, 2011
AN ACT
Providing for a fraud examination of the Department of Public
Welfare.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Welfare
Efficiency Audit Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Asset misappropriation." Any theft or misuse of taxpayer or
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania assets or funds.
"Auditor General." The Auditor General of the Commonwealth.
"Corruption." The use by an individual of personal influence
in a transaction to obtain an unauthorized benefit for a person
contrary to the individual's duty to the Department of Public
Welfare and to the Commonwealth.
"Department." The Department of Public Welfare of the
Commonwealth.
"Fraud." An act of either of the following:
(1) Asset misappropriation.
(2) Corruption.
"Fraud examination." An examination of activity that
consists of gathering, verifying, processing, analyzing and
reporting on data in order to obtain facts or evidence in a
predefined context relating to fraud, misconduct or any other
violation of law and giving preventative advice. A fraud
examination shall be conducted in accordance with American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants guidelines for fraud
examinations.
"Misconduct." Any violation of law, regulations, internal
policies or public expectation of ethical conduct, including
fraudulent reporting, asset misappropriation, obtaining revenue
or assets by fraudulent or illegal means, avoiding expenses or
liabilities by fraudulent or illegal acts, and incurring
expenses or liabilities for fraudulent or illegal acts.
Section 3. Fraud examination.
(a) Contract.--Within 60 days of the effective date of this
section, the Auditor General shall enter into a contract
pursuant to 62 Pa.C.S. § 518 (relating to competitive selection
procedures for certain services) with a certified public
accountant who is also certified as a certified forensic
accountant or in financial forensics or is a certified fraud
examiner for the purposes of conducting a fraud examination of
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the department. The fraud examination shall be completed no
later than 120 days after the Auditor General has entered into a
contract under this subsection.
(b) Duties of the Auditor General.--
(1) The Auditor General shall ensure that the fraud
examination provides for all of the following:
(i) An inspection and analysis of practices and
policies of the department.
(ii) An inspection of the facts and evidence of
practices and policies of the department for any fraud or
misconduct.
(iii) An analysis of the facts and evidence of
practices and policies of the department and
specifically, how those practices and policies affect the
potential for fraud or misconduct in the department.
(iv) A statistically significant sampling of
recipient and provider data and information for any
evidence of fraud or misconduct.
(v) Recommendations on changes to the practices and
policies of the department to increase operational
efficiencies.
(vi) Recommendations on changes to practices and
policies of the department to deter fraud or misconduct.
(vii) A report of the audit to the Auditor General
on the findings of the forensic audit, including the
information specified under subparagraphs (i), (ii),
(iii), (iv), (v) and (vi).
(2) The Auditor General shall, upon receipt of the
report under paragraph (1), forward any findings of fraud or
misconduct to the appropriate legal authorities.
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(3) Within 10 days of receipt of the audit report by the
Auditor General under paragraph (1), the Auditor General
shall provide a copy of the audit report to the Majority
Leader of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the
Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Minority
Leader of the House of Representatives, the chair and
minority chair of the Public Health and Welfare Committee of
the Senate and the chair and minority chair of the Health and
Human Services Committee of the House of Representatives.
Section 10. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
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