[Comments on H.R. 1279]
B-219254: Published: Sep 6, 1985. Publicly Released: Sep 6, 1985.
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO commented on proposed legislation intended to improve states' quality control under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program (AFDC). Under current rules, sanctions are assessed against states whose AFDC payment error rates exceed certain thresholds. Under the proposed legislation: (1) certain technical errors would be disregarded in the computation of states' payment error rates; (2) erroneous payments recovered by a state from previous fiscal years could be offset against the state's sanction for the year in which the payments were recovered; and (3) the Secretary of Health and Human Services could waive sanctions for any given state if the state agreed to spend at least half of the sanction amount on reducing payment errors. GAO noted that: (1) the types of technical data that could be omitted under the proposed legislation are necessary to establish recipient eligibility; (2) states are primarily responsible for the types of errors that would be disregarded; and (3) the offset proposal would create a disincentive for states to implement aggressive and desirable collection actions. In addition, GAO noted that, while it agreed in principle with sanction waivers: (1) no federal matching funds should be used because, if they were, states would receive an excessive business; (2) the amount waived should be a direct offset of funds actually expended; and (3) they should be conditional on verification that the funds offset were actually expended for error reduction activities.
Apr 12, 2018
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Illicit Opioids:
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Mar 20, 2018
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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office:
Observations on the Covered Business Method Patent Review ProgramGAO-18-451T: Published: Mar 20, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 20, 2018.
Mar 13, 2018
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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office:
Assessment of the Covered Business Method Patent Review ProgramGAO-18-320: Published: Mar 12, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 13, 2018.
Mar 12, 2018
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National Roadside Survey:
NHTSA Changed Methodology to Address Driver ConcernsGAO-18-328R: Published: Mar 12, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 12, 2018.
Feb 15, 2018
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Federal Prisons:
Information on Inmates with Serious Mental Illness and Strategies to Reduce RecidivismGAO-18-182: Published: Feb 15, 2018. Publicly Released: Feb 15, 2018.
Feb 8, 2018
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Federal Law Enforcement:
DHS and DOJ Are Working to Enhance Responses to Incidents Involving Individuals with Mental IllnessGAO-18-229: Published: Feb 8, 2018. Publicly Released: Feb 8, 2018.
Feb 2, 2018
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Federal Criminal Restitution:
Most Debt Is Outstanding and Oversight of Collections Could Be ImprovedGAO-18-203: Published: Feb 2, 2018. Publicly Released: Feb 2, 2018.
Jan 8, 2018
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Bureau of Prisons:
Better Planning and Evaluation Could Help Ensure Effective Use of Retention IncentivesGAO-18-147: Published: Dec 7, 2017. Publicly Released: Jan 8, 2018.
Dec 21, 2017
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Internet Firearm Sales:
ATF Enforcement Efforts and Outcomes of GAO Covert TestingGAO-18-24: Published: Nov 21, 2017. Publicly Released: Dec 21, 2017.
Dec 13, 2017
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Department of Justice:
Continued Action Needed To Address Incarceration Challenges and Offenders' ReentryGAO-18-275T: Published: Dec 13, 2017. Publicly Released: Dec 13, 2017.
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