Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2008

A bill to prevent abuse of Government credit cards.

8/1/2008--Reported to Senate amended. Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2008 -
(Sec. 2) Requires the head of each executive agency (sets forth separate Department of Defense (DOD) requirements) to establish and maintain safeguards and internal controls to ensure that:
(1) records are kept of each holder of a purchase card issued for official use and of each card transaction;
(2) each cardholder is assigned an approving official;
(3) charges are reconciled with supporting documentation;
(4) purchases are paid promptly;
(5) rebates and refunds on card accounts are monitored for accuracy and recorded as agency receipts;
(6) periodic reviews are performed to determine whether each cardholder has a need for a card;
(7) training is provided to cardholders and officials responsible for oversight;
(8) agencies have specific policies regarding the number of cards issued by various organizationss, credit limits, and categories of eligible employees that are designed to minimize the financial risk to the government and to ensure the integrity of the cardholders;
(9) agencies utilize technologies to prevent or identify fraudulent purchases;
(10) cards of terminated or transferred employees are invalidated; and
(11) steps are taken to recover the cost of improper or fraudulent purchases through salary offsets. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prescribe guidance governing the implementation of the safeguards and internal controls for purchase cards and travel charge cards that provides for adverse personnel actions against employees for card violations, negligence, misuse, abuse, or fraud. Requires each agency head and Inspector General (including the DOD Inspector General) to report to the Director on such violations semiannually.
Requires each agency Inspector General to:
(1) periodically conduct risk assessments of agency purchase and travel card programs and associated internal controls, analyze weaknesses and the frequency of improper activity, and develop a plan to determine the scope, frequency, and number of periodic audits of cardholders;
(2) perform periodic audits of card transactions and report results to the agency head; and
(3) report to the Director and the Comptroller General on the implementation of recommendations made to address audit findings.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to prescribe regulations that include safeguards and internal controls to ensure that:
(1) each cardholder is assigned an approving official;
(2) DOD utilizes technologies to prevent or identify fraudulent purchases;
(3) cards of terminated or transferred employees are invalidated;
(4) steps are taken to recover the cost of improper or fraudulent purchases through salary offsets; and
(5) DOD's Inspector General conducts periodic risk assessment of purchase card programs and associated internal controls, analyzes weaknesses and the frequency of improper activity, and develops appropriate corrective actions.
(Sec. 3) Amends the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 to require each agency head to establish safeguards and internal controls over travel charge cards to ensure that:
(1) records are kept of each holder of a card issued for official use;
(2) rebates and refunds on travel card accounts are monitored for accuracy and recorded as agency receipts;
(3) periodic reviews are performed to determine whether each cardholder has a need for a card;
(4) training is provided to cardholders and officials responsible for oversight;
(5) agencies have specific policies regarding the number of cards issued by various organizations, credit limits, and categories of eligible employees that are designed to minimize the financial risk to the government and to ensure the integrity of the cardholders;
(6) an individual's creditworthiness is evaluated before a card is issued;
(7) agencies utilize technologies to prevent or identify fraudulent purchases;
(8) cards of terminated employees are invalidated; and
(9) agencies utilize direct payment to the card holder.
(Sec. 4) Requires the heads of agencies that have employees who use centrally billed accounts to establish and maintain safeguards and internal controls to ensure that agencies:
(1) compare items submitted on an employee's travel voucher with items paid for using such an account;
(2) dispute unauthorized charges and track disputed transactions to ensure appropriate resolution; and
(3) submit requests for refunds for fully or partially unused tickets to the airlines and track unused tickets to ensure appropriate resolution. Requires the Director to prescribe guidance on implementing such safeguards and internal controls.


... morehide bill summarySee Full Bill Text

Sponsor

• Sen. Charles Grassley [R, IA]
• and 7 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Thomas Carper [D, DE]
  • Sen. Norm Coleman [R, MN]
  • Sen. Susan Collins [R, ME]
  • Sen. John Kerry [D, MA]
  • Sen. Carl Levin [D, MI]
  • Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT]
  • Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO]
  close

Committees

• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.789

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget

	OpenCongress widgets allow you to display information about bills and issue areas on your own website or blog. First, select which bill or issue you want to track, then customize the appearance of the panel, and finally paste a simple chunk of HTML into your site. Now your community will have an easy, up-to-date way to track the status of important bills and issues in Congress.

Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
March 07, 2007

Show All Actions (8 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Added to calendar on Aug 01, 2008: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 933..
• Aug 01, 2008: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Lieberman with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 110-437.
• Added to calendar on Apr 10, 2008: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably..
• Apr 10, 2008: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
• Mar 07, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
• Mar 07, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2797-2799)
• Introduced on Mar 07, 2007.
• Mar 07, 2007: Introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2798-2799)

---

Related Bills:

• H.R.1395

Related Issue Areas:

• Executive departments
• Administrative procedure
• Armed forces
• Auditing
• 37 more
• Budgets
• Checks
• Consumer credit
• Consumer discounts
• Consumers
• Credit bureaus
• Credit cards
• Defense contracts
• Defense economics
• Defense procurement
• Department of Defense
• Disciplining of employees
• Dismissal of employees
• Employee training
• Federal employees
• Finance
• Fraud
• General Services Administration
• Government employees
• Government information
• Government paperwork
• Government procurement
• Government travel
• Inspectors general
• Interest
• Job training
• Law
• Misconduct in office
• Negligence
• Public contracts
• Rebates
• Risk
• Technology
• Transfer of employees
• Transportation
• Travel costs
• Waste in government spending

Data from the Congressional Research Service

Users tracking S.789 (2) are also tracking:

Show More User Statistics... Hide User Statistics

In the News

April 18, 2008 Wilson says time to restore trust in government

A Senate companion bill, S. 789, introduced by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), has recently been cleared by the Senate Homeland Security and Government ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: The Times and Democrat, SC

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

April 15, 2008 Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance on purchase card ...

Legislation to that effect, the 2007 Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act (S. 789), introduced by Grassley, passed the Senate Homeland Security and ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: GovExec.com, DC

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

See most useful news articles

Information made available by:

Blog Coverage

October 07, 2008 Obama a Net Spending Cutter?

For another example, earlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office looked at a bill designed to cut down on abuse of federal purchasing cards, S 789, and reported:... [I]mplementing S. 789 would cost $85 million over the 2009-2013 ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Government Bytes

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

August 10, 2008 Docuticker » Blog Archive » CRS — Misuse of Government Purchase Cards

One of the most comprehensive proposals before the 110th Congress is the Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act, which was introduced on March 7, 2007, in both the Senate (S. 789) and the House (H.R. 1395). ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Docuticker

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

August 06, 2008 Bill would put more eyes on purchase cards

Under the Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act (S. 789), the IGs would have to regularly report to the Office of Management and Budget about violations and punishments, as well as agency trends that might lead to improper ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Reports on Governmentwide Policy

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

9 more posts...
See most useful blog posts

Information made available by: