Robert F. Fairweather

“ Agencies shall take all reasonable steps to notify any contractors who already have entered into contracts including the provisions described in section 4 (a) of E.O. 13950, that those provisions are not operational, that the United States will not enforce those provisions, and that contractors should not enforce such provisions to the extent the language was included in their subcontracts (in addition to the notice that was required after the preliminary injunction was issued) . ”

“ A significant risk in managing IP risk is the potential that agencies may make investments in risk controls that negatively affect program mission, efficiency, customer experience or the overall operations of the agency. By including an evaluation of payment integrity risk in the Agency Risk Profile, agencies will identify, assess, prioritize, and respond to payment integrity risks and implement control activities to mitigate identified material payment integrity risks. ”

“ OMB carries out its mission through five main functions across executive departments and agencies:
Budget development and execution. OMB has six resource management offices (RMOs) , organized by agency and by program area. These offices, together with OMB’s Budget Review Division, help to carry out OMB’s central activity of assisting the President in overseeing the preparation of the Federal Budget and supervising its administration of Executive Branch agencies. ”

“ This executive order requires all agencies to review all existing orders, regulations, guidance documents, policies, programs or other actions that discriminate against individuals on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. Agencies are required to combat these and overlapping forms of discrimination such as on the basis of race or disability. ”

“ Agencies should assess all programs with annual outlays greater than $10,000,000 for IP risk at least once every three years. The purpose of an IP risk assessment is to determine whether the total annual IPs PLUS the UPs for a program are collectively likely to be above or below the statutory threshold for the given year. ”

“ In addition to testimonies and letters, an agency may communicate in another form, such as submitting talking points to convey comments (often informally) on a bill under consideration by Congress, or responding to questions for the record following a congressional hearing. Also, agencies have numerous requirements to submit certain reports to Congress, and reports that contain any legislative views or recommendations must be submitted to OMB for clearance to ensure consistency with Administration policy and the President's Budget. ”

“ Development of the Federal Budget generally begins in September when agencies submit their Budget Requests to OMB, and concludes with the issuance of the President’s Budget. Management, including oversight of agency performance, procurement, financial management, and information technology. ”

“ To the extent that your department or agency has taken action to implement or enforce the September 21 Presidential Memorandum, including through contract terms, notices of funding availability, or otherwise, please promptly consider revoking or rescinding those actions pursuant to Section 2 of the Executive Order. ”

“ This Presidential Memorandum directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide a 100 percent Federal cost share for all work eligible under Public Assistance Category B between January 20, 2020, and September 30, 2021. ”

“ Implementing this executive order would have de minimis impact on costs and revenues to the Federal Government. The benefits of this executive order include rebuilding and expanding the USRAP by minimizing delays, improving security vetting, and increasing transparency in the program. Implementing this executive order would have de minimis impact on mandatory and discretionary obligations and outlays, as well as on revenues to the Federal Government, in the 5-year fiscal period beginning in fiscal year 2021. ”

“ Each submitted S&EMP checklist must be signed by an agency official stating that the S&EMP will produce a statistically valid estimate. The certification should be signed by an agency official of the agency’s choosing (e.g., this could be the Chief Financial Officer, his/her Deputy, a program official, etc.) . The signed S&EMP checklist will serve as evidence that the agency believes the S&EMP is statistically valid. Agencies are encouraged to provide their secure Max link to their OIG so the OIG is able to review this documentation during their annual compliance review. ”

“ OMB prepares a memorandum to the President for each enrolled bill which includes a summary of the bill, analysis of significant provisions in the bill, and agency and OMB recommendations for Presidential action on the bill. Any agency recommending disapproval of a bill or the issuance of a signing statement must submit for clearance a statement for the President, and early indication of this intention, including when a bill is circulated to agencies for views prior to floor consideration, is extremely helpful. ”

“ An UP will eventually be determined to be proper or improper but because the program does not know whether it is proper or improper at the time of their review, they must call it an UP for purposes of this guidance. Programs may be required to report the review results of their UPs in future reporting years as the results become available. Agencies should not cushion their reporting timeframe specifically for the purpose of allowing the agency additional time to verify whether an UP is proper or improper. ”

“ Agencies' enrolled bill views letters are privileged communication, and agencies should be guided accordingly in determining their content. OMB also requests views from other affected agencies, which may provide their recommendations informally. Such agencies may indicate approval, no objection, no comment, or defer to a lead agency informally. ”

“ The UP estimate will be considered and added to the IP estimate for purposes of compliance and for purposes of determining whether the program is above the statutory threshold.
C. Identifying the Correct Type of Payment
To efficiently prevent IPs and UPs, it is first important to properly understand the payment type. There are three main types of payments which collectively degrade the payment integrity of the agency: Monetary Loss IPs, Non-Monetary Loss IPs, and UPs. ”

“ When an agency has completed their S&EMP, it must submit the S&EMP and a completed S&EMP checklist in pdf format to OMB by uploading one package containing both the S&EMP and the S&EMP checklist via the Sampling and Estimation Methodologies folder located within the agency secure Max page under the Payment Integrity Information Act Required Submissions to OMB Max Page. ”

“ Additionally, federal contractors, including subcontractors and vendors performing under government contracts, shall not be investigated, debarred, or otherwise penalized for purported violations of E.O. 13950. ”

“ SAPs allow the Administration to state publicly its views on legislation for the record. Generally, the House releases a weekly schedule that provides notice of bills that will be considered the following week. ”

“ Terminology used in Appendix C to Circular A-123 is defined in Appendix 1A and should be consulted in conjunction with the main body of this circular for full understanding and implementation of the guidance. ”