H. R. 5933: To Establish the Office of the Special Inspector General for Major Metropolitan Areas, and for Other Purposes (117th Congress)
Summary
H.R. 5933, the SIGMMA Act, introduced in the House of Representatives on November 9, 2021 by Ms. Malliotakis and Mr. Donalds and referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform. The bill would establish the Office of the Special Inspector General for Major Metropolitan Areas, whose head is appointed by the President. Its stated purposes are the independent conduct and supervision of audits and investigations of programs funded with amounts made available for use by major cities, and the prevention and detection of waste, fraud, and abuse. Later provisions cover reports, including a transparency provision with a 60-day period.
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“H. R. 5933: To Establish the Office of the Special Inspector General for Major Metropolitan Areas, and for Other Purposes (117th Congress).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/bills-bills-117hr5933ih-bills-117hr5933ih/
, SHA-256 9840dd63c798db980da157461b14128bb2f6710092101c2bfe73579529b3be23.Full text
I
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 5933
To establish the Office of the Special Inspector General for Major
Metropolitan Areas, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 9, 2021
Ms. MALLIOTAKIS (for herself and Mr. DONALDS) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform
A BILL
To establish the Office of the Special Inspector General
for Major Metropolitan Areas, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SIGMMA Act’’.
5 SEC. 2. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR MAJOR METRO-
6 POLITAN AREAS.
7 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are as
8 follows:
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9 (1) To provide for the independent and objec-
10 tive conduct and supervision of audits and investiga-
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1 tions relating to the programs and operations funded
2 with amounts appropriated or otherwise made avail-
3 able for use by major cities.
4 (2) To provide for the independent and objec-
5 tive leadership and coordination of, and rec-
6 ommendations on, policies designed to—
7 (A) promote economy efficiency, and effec-
8 tiveness in the administration of the programs
9 and operations described in paragraph (1); and
10 (B) prevent and detect waste, fraud, and
11 abuse in such programs and operations.
12 (b) OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—There is
13 hereby established the Office of the Special Inspector Gen-
14 eral for Major Metropolitan Areas to carry out the pur-
15 poses of subsection (a).
16 (c) APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL; RE-
17 MOVAL.—
18 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The head of the Office is
19 the Special Inspector General for Major Metropoli-
20 tan Areas, who shall be appointed by the President.
21 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The appointment of the
22 Inspector General shall be made solely on the basis
23 of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting,
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24 auditing, financial analysis, law, management anal-
25 ysis, public administration, or investigations.
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1 (3) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—The ap-
2 pointment of an individual as Inspector General
3 shall be made not later than 30 days after the date
4 of the enactment of this Act.
5 (4) COMPENSATION.—The annual rate of basic
6 pay of the Inspector General shall be the annual rate
7 of basic pay provided for positions at level IV of the
8 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5,
9 United States Code.
10 (5) PROHIBITION ON POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.—
11 For purposes of section 7324 of title 5, United
12 States Code, the Inspector General shall not be con-
13 sidered an employee who determines policies to be
14 pursued by the United States in the nationwide ad-
15 ministration of Federal law.
16 (6) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General shall be
17 removable from office in accordance with the provi-
18 sions of section 3(b) of the Inspector General Act of
19 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
20 (d) SUPERVISION.—
21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
22 graph (2), the Inspector General shall report directly
23 to, and be under the general supervision of the Sec-
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24 retary of Housing and Urban Development.
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1 (2) INDEPENDENCE TO CONDUCT INVESTIGA-
2 TIONS AND AUDITS.—No officer of the Department
3 of Housing and Urban Development shall prevent or
4 prohibit the Inspector General from initiating, car-
5 rying out, or completing any audit or investigation
6 related to amounts appropriated or otherwise made
7 available for use by major cities with or from issuing
8 any subpoena during the course of any such audit or
9 investigation.
10 (e) DUTIES.—
11 (1) OVERSIGHT OF SPENDING BY MAJOR CIT-
12 IES.—It shall be the duty of the Inspector General
13 to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and in-
14 vestigations of the treatment, handling, and expendi-
15 ture of amounts appropriated or otherwise made
16 available for use by major cities (and of the pro-
17 grams, operations, and contracts carried out using
18 such funds) including—
19 (A) audits and investigations with respect
20 to—
21 (i) the oversight and accounting of the
22 obligation and expenditure of such funds;
23 (ii) the monitoring and review of—
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24 (I) activities funded by such
25 funds;
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1 (II) contracts funded by such
2 funds; and
3 (III) the transfer of such funds
4 from major cities to other entities, in-
5 cluding businesses and nongovern-
6 mental entities;
7 (iii) the maintenance of records by
8 major cities on the use of such funds to fa-
9 cilitate future audits and investigations;
10 (iv) overpayments, such as duplicate
11 payments or duplicate billing; and
12 (v) any potential unethical or illegal
13 actions of Federal employees or employees
14 of major cities, contractors, or nongovern-
15 mental entities related to the treatment,
16 handling, obligation, or expenditure of such
17 funds; and
18 (B) the referral of findings of such audits
19 and investigations (as necessary) to the Depart-
20 ment of Justice to ensure further investigations,
21 prosecutions, recovery of funds, or other rem-
22 edies.
23 (2) OTHER DUTIES RELATED TO OVERSIGHT.—
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24 The Inspector General shall establish, maintain, and
25 oversee such systems, procedures, and controls as
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1 the Inspector General considers appropriate to dis-
2 charge the duties specified under paragraph (1).
3 (3) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER IN-
4 SPECTOR GENERAL ACT OF 1978.—In addition to the
5 duties specified in paragraphs (1) and (2), the In-
6 spector General shall also have the duties and re-
7 sponsibilities of inspectors general under the Inspec-
8 tor General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
9 (4) AUDIT STANDARDS.—The Inspector General
10 shall carry out the duties specified in paragraph (1)
11 in accordance with section 4(b)(1) of the Inspector
12 General Act of 1978.
13 (f) POWERS AND AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out the
14 duties specified in subsection (e), the Inspector General
15 shall have the authorities provided in section 6 of the In-
16 spector General Act of 1978, including the authorities
17 under section 6(e).
18 (g) PERSONNEL, FACILITIES, AND OTHER RE-
19 SOURCES.—
20 (1) PERSONNEL.—The Inspector General may
21 select, appoint, and employ such officers and em-
22 ployees as may be necessary for carrying out the du-
23 ties of the Inspector General, subject to the provi-
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24 sions of title 5, United States Code, governing ap-
25 pointments in the competitive service, and the provi-
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1 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53
2 of such title, relating to classification and General
3 Schedule pay rates.
4 (2) EMPLOYMENT OF EXPERTS AND CONSULT-
5 ANTS.—The Inspector General may obtain services
6 as authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United
7 States Code, at daily rates not to exceed the equiva-
8 lent rate prescribed for grade GS–15 of the General
9 Schedule by section 5332 of such title.
10 (3) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.—To the extent
11 and in such amounts as may be provided in advance
12 by appropriations Acts, the Inspector General may
13 enter into contracts and other arrangements for au-
14 dits, studies, analyses, and other services with public
15 agencies and with private persons, and make such
16 payments as may be necessary to carry out the du-
17 ties of the Inspector General.
18 (4) RESOURCES.—The Secretary of Housing
19 and Urban Development, as appropriate, shall pro-
20 vide the Inspector General with appropriate and ade-
21 quate office space at appropriate locations of the De-
22 partment of Housing and Urban Development, to-
23 gether with such equipment, office supplies, and
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24 communications facilities and services as may be
25 necessary for the operation of such offices, and shall
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1 provide necessary maintenance services for such of-
2 fices and the equipment and facilities located there-
3 in.
4 (5) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—
5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon request of the In-
6 spector General for information or assistance
7 from any department, agency, or other entity of
8 a major city or the Federal Government, the
9 head of such entity shall, insofar as is prac-
10 ticable and not in contravention of any existing
11 law, furnish such information or assistance to
12 the Inspector General, or a designee of the In-
13 spector General.
14 (B) REPORTING OF REFUSED ASSIST-
15 ANCE.—Whenever information or assistance re-
16 quested by the Inspector General is, in the
17 judgment of the Inspector General, unreason-
18 ably refused or not provided, the Inspector Gen-
19 eral shall report the circumstances to the De-
20 partment of Justice, as appropriate, and to the
21 appropriate congressional committees without
22 delay.
23 (h) REPORTS.—
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24 (1) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Not later than 30
25 days after the end of each fiscal-year quarter, the
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1 Inspector General shall submit to the appropriate
2 congressional committees a report summarizing, for
3 the period of that quarter and, to the extent pos-
4 sible, the period from the end of such quarter to the
5 time of the submission of the report, the activities
6 during such period of the Inspector General and the
7 activities under programs and operations funded
8 with amounts appropriated or otherwise made avail-
9 able for use by major cities. Each report shall in-
10 clude, for the period covered by such report, a de-
11 tailed statement of all obligations, expenditures, and
12 revenues associated with such funds, including the
13 following:
14 (A) Obligations and expenditures of such
15 funds.
16 (B) Detailed operating expenses of major
17 cities that are related to the use of such funds.
18 (C) In the case of any contract, grant,
19 agreement, or other funding mechanism de-
20 scribed in paragraph (2)—
21 (i) the amount of the contract, grant,
22 agreement, or other funding mechanism;
23 (ii) a brief discussion of the scope of
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24 the contract, grant, agreement, or other
25 funding mechanism;
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1 (iii) a discussion of how the major city
2 involved in the contract, grant, agreement,
3 or other funding mechanism identified, and
4 solicited offers or applications from, poten-
5 tial individuals or entities to perform the
6 contract or activities under the grant,
7 agreement, or other funding mechanism;
8 (iv) a list of the potential individuals
9 or entities that were issued solicitations for
10 the offers or applications; and
11 (v) the justification and approval doc-
12 uments on which was based any determina-
13 tion to use procedures other than proce-
14 dures that provide for full and open com-
15 petition with respect to the contract, grant,
16 agreement, or other funding mechanism.
17 (2) COVERED CONTRACTS, GRANTS, AGREE-
18 MENTS, AND FUNDING MECHANISMS.—A contract,
19 grant, agreement, or other funding mechanism de-
20 scribed in this paragraph is any major contract,
21 grant, agreement, or other funding mechanism with
22 any public or private entity that—
23 (A) is entered into by a major city—
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24 (i) to build or rebuild physical infra-
25 structure of such city; or
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1 (ii) to provide products or services to
2 the people of such city; and
3 (B) involves the use of amounts appro-
4 priated or otherwise made available for use by
5 such city.
6 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Inspector
7 General shall publish on a publicly available website
8 each report required under this subsection.
9 (4) FORM.—Each report required under this
10 subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form,
11 but may include a classified annex if the Inspector
12 General considers it necessary.
13 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this
14 subsection shall be construed to authorize the public
15 disclosure of information that is—
16 (A) specifically prohibited from disclosure
17 by any other provision of law;
18 (B) specifically required by Executive order
19 to be protected from disclosure in the interest
20 of national defense or national security or in
21 the conduct of foreign affairs; or
22 (C) a part of an ongoing criminal inves-
23 tigation.
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24 (i) REPORT COORDINATION.—
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1 (1) SUBMISSION TO SECRETARY OF HOUSING
2 AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.—The Inspector General
3 shall also submit each report required under sub-
4 section (h) to the Secretary of Housing and Urban
5 Development.
6 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—
7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days
8 after receipt of a report under paragraph (1),
9 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
10 ment may submit to the appropriate congres-
11 sional committees any comments on the matters
12 covered by the report the Secretary of Housing
13 and Urban Development deems appropriate.
14 (B) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—Any comments
15 on the matters covered by the report shall be
16 submitted in unclassified form, but may include
17 a classified annex if the Secretary of Housing
18 and Urban Development, as the case may be,
19 considers it necessary.
20 (j) TRANSPARENCY.—
21 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after
22 submission to the appropriate congressional commit-
23 tees of a report under subsection (i), the Secretary
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24 of Housing and Urban Development shall make cop-
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1 ies of the report available to the public upon request,
2 and at a reasonable cost.
3 (2) COMMENTS ON MATTERS COVERED BY RE-
4 PORT.—Not later than 180 days after submission to
5 the appropriate congressional committees under sub-
6 section (i)(2) of comments on a report under sub-
7 section (h), the Secretary of Housing and Urban De-
8 velopment shall make copies of the comments avail-
9 able to the public upon request, and at a reasonable
10 cost.
11 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
12 authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal year
13 2022 to carry out this section.
14 (l) TERMINATION.—The Office of the Special Inspec-
15 tor General shall terminate on the date 5 years after the
16 enactment of this Act.
17 (m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
18 (1) AMOUNTS APPROPRIATED OR OTHERWISE
19 MADE AVAILABLE FOR USE BY MAJOR CITIES.—The
20 term ‘‘amounts appropriated or otherwise made
21 available for use by major cities’’ means amounts
22 appropriated or otherwise made available for any fis-
23 cal year by an entity of the Federal Government for
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24 use by a major city, including amounts appropriated
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1 or otherwise made available for use by a major city
2 under the following:
3 (A) The Coronavirus State and Local Fis-
4 cal Recovery Fund.
5 (B) The Emergency Rental Assistance
6 Program.
7 (C) The Coronavirus Relief Fund.
8 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT-
9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
10 mittees’’ means—
11 (A) the Committees on Appropriations and
12 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
13 Senate;
14 (B) the Committees on Appropriations and
15 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House
16 of Representatives; and
17 (C) the Committees of Congress with juris-
18 diction over the Department of Housing and
19 Urban Development.
20 (3) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Inspec-
21 tor General’’ means the Special Inspector General
22 for Major Metropolitan Areas.
23 (4) MAJOR CITY.—The term ‘‘major city’’
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24 means a city with more than 1 million people, per
25 the 2020 decennial census of population.
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1 (5) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of-
2 fice of the Special Inspector General for Major Met-
3 ropolitan Areas.
Æ
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