PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on the Budget.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 3, 2025
Improper Payments Transparency Act
This bill requires the President's annual budget to include specified information regarding improper payment amounts and rates for programs and activities at certain federal agencies. (An improper payment is any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount, including an overpayment or underpayment, under a statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirement.)
Specifically, the President's budget must include (1) a narrative description, including a detailed explanation of why any improper payment amounts and rates occurred and related trends for programs and activities; and (2) corrective actions and steps the agencies will take to address improper payment amount and rate issues.
People & committees
Rep. Yakym, Rudy [R-IN-2] · R–IN
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on the Budget.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-03-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Improper Payments Transparency Act would require the President’s budget submission to include information about payments classified as improper under existing law. It would cover programs and activities at executive agencies already required to report improper payments. The information would explain payment amounts, rates and trends, identify unfinished corrective actions, and describe agencies’ planned steps to address problems.
This Act may be cited as the Improper Payments Transparency Act.
Including improper payment information in Presidents budget submission
information with respect to improper payment (as such term is defined in section 3351) amounts and rates for programs and activities at each executive agency required to submit improper payment reports under subchapter IV of chapter 33
a narrative description, including a detailed explanation with respect to why any improper payment amounts and rates occurred and trends
what corrective actions, including any such action in any corrective action plan under section 3352(d), with respect to such programs and activities are incomplete, and steps the executive agency will take to address improper payment amount and rate issues.
Section 2 would add a budget-reporting requirement to title 31, section 1105(a), of the United States Code. It would cover improper-payment amounts and rates for programs and activities at executive agencies subject to the existing reporting requirement, using the existing statutory definition of improper payment.
Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (40) information with respect to improper payment (as such term is defined in section 3351) amounts and rates for programs and activities at each executive agency required to submit improper payment reports under subchapter IV of chapter 33
The proposed report would require a written explanation of why improper-payment amounts and rates occurred, along with their trends.
(A) a narrative description, including a detailed explanation with respect to why any improper payment amounts and rates occurred and trends
The trend discussion would cover each program and activity whose improper-payment amounts and rates increased or decreased on average over the previous three years, as well as those whose amounts and rates did not change over that period.
(i) each program and activity whose improper payment amount and rates have increased or decreased on average over the previous three years; and (ii) each program and activity whose improper payment amount and rates did not change over such years
The submission would identify unfinished corrective actions, including actions in corrective-action plans under section 3352(d), and describe the steps the agency will take to address improper-payment amounts and rates.
(B) what corrective actions, including any such action in any corrective action plan under section 3352(d), with respect to such programs and activities are incomplete, and steps the executive agency will take to address improper payment amount and rate issues.
The supplied action snapshot, updated September 8, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on the Budget on March 3, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-08T19:31:27Z. 2025-03-03: Referred to the House Committee on the Budget. 2025-03-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-03-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for a particular recipient or place was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 8, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI