2005 Texas Government Code CHAPTER 2115. RECOVERY OF CERTAIN STATE AGENCY OVERPAYMENTS

GOVERNMENT CODE

CHAPTER 2115. RECOVERY OF CERTAIN STATE AGENCY OVERPAYMENTS


	§ 2115.001. DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:                                  
		(1)  "Overpayment" includes a duplicate payment made to 
a vendor for a single invoice and a payment made to a vendor:
			(A)  when an available discount from the vendor 
was not applied;           
			(B)  for a late payment penalty that was 
improperly applied by the vendor; 
			(C)  for shipping costs that were computed 
incorrectly or incorrectly included in an invoice;
			(D)  for state sales tax;  or                                                
			(E)  for a good or service the vendor did not 
provide.                     
		(2)  "State agency" means a department, commission, 
board, office, or other agency, including a university system or an 
institution of higher education other than a public junior college, 
that:
			(A)  is in the executive branch of state 
government;                       
			(B)  is created by statute;  and                                             
			(C)  does not have statutory geographical 
boundaries limited to a part of the state.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 403, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005;  
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 899, § 2.01, eff. August 29, 2005.


	§ 2115.002. CONTRACT CONSULTANTS FOR RECOVERY AUDITS FOR 
CERTAIN OVERPAYMENTS.  (a) The comptroller shall contract with one 
or more consultants to conduct recovery audits of payments made by 
state agencies to vendors.  The audits must be designed to detect 
and recover overpayments to the vendors and to recommend improved 
state agency accounting operations.
	(b)  A contract under this section:                                            
		(1)  may provide for reasonable compensation for 
services provided under the contract, including compensation 
determined by the application of a specified percentage of the 
total amount recovered because of the consultant's audit activities 
or recommendations as a fee for services;
		(2)  may permit or require the consultant to pursue a 
judicial action in a court inside or outside this state to recover 
an overpaid amount;  and
		(3)  to allow time for the performance of existing 
state payment auditing procedures, may not allow a recovery audit 
of a payment during the 180-day period after the date the payment 
was made.
	(c)  The comptroller or a state agency whose payments are 
being audited may provide a person acting under a contract 
authorized by this section with any confidential information in the 
custody of the comptroller or state agency that is necessary for the 
performance of the audit or the recovery of an overpayment, to the 
extent the comptroller and state agency are not prohibited from 
sharing the information under an agreement with another state or 
the federal government.  A person acting under a contract 
authorized by this section, and each employee or agent of the 
person, is subject to all prohibitions against the disclosure of 
confidential information obtained from the state in connection with 
the contract that apply to the comptroller or applicable state 
agency or an employee of the comptroller or applicable state 
agency.  A person acting under a contract authorized by this section 
or an employee or agent of the person who discloses confidential 
information in violation of a prohibition made applicable to the 
person under this subsection is subject to the same sanctions and 
penalties that would apply to the comptroller or applicable state 
agency or an employee of the comptroller or applicable state agency 
for that disclosure.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 403, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005;  
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 899, § 2.01, eff. August 29, 2005.


	§ 2115.003. STATE AGENCIES SUBJECT TO MANDATORY RECOVERY 
AUDITS.  (a) The comptroller shall require that recovery audits be 
performed on the payments to vendors made by each state agency that 
has total expenditures during a state fiscal biennium in an amount 
that exceeds $100 million.  Each state agency described by this 
subsection shall provide the recovery audit consultant with all 
information necessary for the audit.
	(b)  The comptroller may exempt from the mandatory recovery 
audit process a state agency that has a low proportion of its 
expenditures made to vendors, according to criteria the comptroller 
adopts by rule after consideration of the likely costs and benefits 
of performing recovery audits for agencies that make relatively few 
or small payments to vendors.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 403, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005;  
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 899, § 2.01, eff. August 29, 2005.


	§ 2115.004. PAYMENT TO CONTRACTORS.  (a) A state agency 
shall pay, from recovered money appropriated for the purpose, the 
recovery audit consultant responsible for obtaining for the agency 
a reimbursement from a vendor.
	(b)  A state agency shall expend or return to the federal 
government any federal money that is recovered through a recovery 
audit conducted under this chapter.  The state agency shall expend 
or return the federal money in accordance with the rules of the 
federal program through which the agency received the federal 
money.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 403, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005;  
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 899, § 2.01, eff. August 29, 2005.


	§ 2115.005. FORWARDING REPORTS.  (a) The comptroller 
shall provide copies, including electronic form copies, of any 
reports received from a consultant contracting under Section 
2115.002 to:
		(1)  the governor;                                                            
		(2)  the state auditor's office;  and                                         
		(3)  the Legislative Budget Board.                                            
	(b)  The comptroller shall provide the copies required by 
Subsection (a) not later than the seventh day after the date the 
comptroller receives the consultant's report.
	(c)  Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the 
comptroller shall issue a report to the legislature summarizing the 
contents of all reports received under this chapter during the 
state fiscal biennium ending August 31 of the previous year.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 403, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005;  
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 899, § 2.01, eff. August 29, 2005.