Department of Veterans Affairs Chief Financial Officer Authority and Collaboration Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6589 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs AN ACT To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and submit to Congress a plan to address the material weak- ness of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6589.RFS H6589 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 6589 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet- 2 erans Affairs Chief Financial Officer Authority and Col- 3 laboration Act of 2020’’. 4 SEC. 2. PLANS FOR ADDRESSING MATERIAL WEAKNESSES 5 AND PROVIDING SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY TO 6 CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF DEPARTMENT 7 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 8 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter for each of the 10 three subsequent years, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 11 acting through the Chief Financial Officer of the Depart- 12 ment of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the appropriate 13 congressional committees— 14 (1) an action plan, including steps, related 15 timelines, costs, progress, status of implementation, 16 and any updates for fully addressing the material 17 weaknesses of the Department discussed in the Man- 18 agement’s Discussion and Analysis section of the fi- 19 nancial statements of the Department submitted to 20 Congress under section 3515 of title 31, United 21 States Code for the year preceding the year during 22 which the report is submitted; and 23 (2) a plan outlining the steps the Secretary 24 plans to take to address the recommendations of 25 auditors related to entity-level internal controls and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6589.RFS H6589 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 6589 RFS to provide sufficient authority to the Chief Financial 1 Officer of the Department to carry out the require- 2 ments of section 902 of title 31, United States Code. 3 SEC. 3. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER ATTESTATION. 4 Concurrent with the submittal to Congress of the 5 President’s budget request under section 1105 of title 31, 6 United States Code, for fiscal year 2022 and each of the 7 next three subsequent fiscal years, the Chief Financial Of- 8 ficer of the Department of Veterans affairs shall submit 9 to the appropriate congressional committees each of the 10 following: 11 (1) A certification of the responsibility of the 12 Chief Financial Officer for internal financial controls 13 of the Department. 14 (2) An attestation that the Chief Financial Of- 15 ficer has collaborated sufficiently with the subordi- 16 nate chief financial officers of the Department to be 17 confident in the financial projections included the 18 budget request and supporting materials. 19 SEC. 4. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER RESPONSIBILITY FOR 20 SUBORDINATE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the respon- 22 sibilities of the Chief Financial Officer of the Department 23 of Veterans Affairs for the recruitment, selection, and 24 training of personnel to carry out agency financial man- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6589.RFS H6589 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 6589 RFS agement functions pursuant to section 902(a)(5)(C) of 1 title 31, United States Code, the Chief Financial Officer 2 or the designee of the Chief Financial Officer within the 3 Office of Management of the Department shall— 4 (1) participate in the interview and selection 5 panels of all subordinate chief financial officers; and 6 (2) give input into the performance plans and 7 performance evaluations of all subordinate chief fi- 8 nancial officers. 9 (b) TERMINATION.—The requirements under sub- 10 section (a) shall terminate on the date that is five years 11 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 12 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 15 mittees’’ means the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 16 of the Senate and the House of Representatives and 17 the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and 18 the House of Representatives. 19 (2) The term ‘‘subordinate chief financial offi- 20 cer’’— 21 (A) includes— 22 (i) the chief financial officer of the 23 Veterans Health Administration, the chief 24 financial officer of the Office of Commu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6589.RFS H6589 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 6589 RFS nity Care within the Veterans Health Ad- 1 ministration, and all chief financial officers 2 of Veterans Integrated Service Networks 3 within the Veterans Health Administra- 4 tion; 5 (ii) the chief financial officer of the 6 Veterans Benefits Administration and all 7 chief financial officers of organizational 8 subdivisions representing business lines 9 within the Veterans Benefits Administra- 10 tion; 11 (iii) the chief financial officer of the 12 National Cemetery Administration; and 13 (iv) the chief financial officer of the 14 Office of Information and Technology; and 15 (B) does not include the Inspector General. 16 Passed the House of Representatives September 22, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Sep 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6589.RFS H6589 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS