H.R. 8467 — Zeroing Out Monetary Benefits Improperly Expended Act, as amended
Executive Summary
The ZOMBIE Act (H.R. 8467) amends the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 to fundamentally shift how federal agencies track and report improper payments. Currently, agencies must report all improper payments, which often include mere administrative or paperwork errors where the correct recipient received the correct amount. This bill narrows the statutory focus strictly to 'improper payments resulting in financial loss to the Government.' By redefining this scope, the legislation aims to redirect limited agency and Inspector General resources toward actual fraud prevention, mandate regular risk assessments, and require proactive use of the Do Not Pay Initiative before funds are disbursed.
Arguments For
- Resource Optimization: By excluding harmless administrative errors from the definition of improper payments, agencies and Inspectors General can focus their limited resources on combating actual fraud and recovering real financial losses.
- Proactive Fraud Prevention: Mandating the use of the Do Not Pay Initiative before funds are disbursed shifts the government's posture from 'pay and chase' to proactive prevention.
- Regulatory Relief: Reduces the bureaucratic reporting burden on agencies, preventing them from wasting hours documenting paperwork errors that cost the taxpayer nothing.
Likely Supporters
Arguments Against
- Masking Systemic Issues: Critics may argue that ignoring administrative errors creates a slippery slope; procedural safeguards exist for a reason, and bypassing them could mask underlying systemic incompetence.
- Artificial Success Metrics: Narrowing the definition of improper payments will artificially lower the government's reported error rates, potentially giving Congress and the public a false sense of security regarding financial management.
- Implementation Friction: Forcing agencies to separate 'administrative errors' from 'financial loss errors' may require costly overhauls of existing financial tracking and data systems.
Likely Opponents
📋 Key Provisions
- Redefines the statutory focus of federal payment integrity efforts from general 'improper payments' to 'improper payments resulting in financial loss to the Government.'
- Explicitly excludes payments made to the correct person for the correct amount that merely failed to follow certain administrative procedures from the definition of financial loss.
- Requires the Treasury Secretary to develop risk assessment guidance within one year to help agencies evaluate the likelihood and magnitude of financial loss.
- Mandates that executive agencies conduct risk assessments on an ongoing basis, and no less frequently than once every three years.
- Requires agencies to use the Do Not Pay Initiative (or successor systems) prior to making eligibility determinations or issuing awards to prevent fraud.
- Establishes mandatory annual Federal-State coordination meetings convened by OMB and Treasury to review fraud prevention performance and share best practices.
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Verification Guide
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Defines financial loss as payments made in excess of the correct amount authorized by law.
"means any payment or part of a pay-"
Excludes payments to the correct person for the correct amount that lacked administrative procedures.
"but not made in accordance with certain admin-"
Requires the Treasury Secretary to develop risk assessment guidance within 1 year.
"GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the"
Mandates that risk assessments be conducted no less frequently than once every 3 years.
"no less frequently than once"
Requires annual Federal-State coordination meetings to review fraud prevention.
"MEETINGS.—Not less frequently than once"