Merit Institute Merit

The Arizona Government Transparency & Performance Act (AZ-GT&P)

Arizona state companion to GT&P. Extends State Personnel System (A.R.S. Title 41 Ch. 4), AZ Public Records Law (Sec. 39-121 et seq.), and Arizona Medicaid Fraud recovery (A.R.S. Sec. 36-2918 et seq.).

THE ARIZONA GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY & PERFORMANCE ACT (AZ-GT&P)

Vehicle: State passage. Arizona Legislature, regular session. Primary referral to House / Senate Government / Appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

This Act may be cited as the “Arizona Government Transparency & Performance Act (AZ-GT&P).”

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT

The Legislature finds that Arizona’s State Personnel System operates under A.R.S. Title 41 Ch. 4; that the Arizona Public Records Law operates under A.R.S. Sec. 39-121 et seq.; that the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting administers the Executive Budget under A.R.S. Sec. 41-190 et seq.; that the Joint Legislative Budget Committee provides fiscal analysis under A.R.S. Ch. 41; that Arizona does not have a general False Claims Act but recovers Medicaid fraud under A.R.S. Sec. 36-2918 et seq. and related provisions; and that the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit operates under the Office of the Attorney General pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396b(q). This Act extends these frameworks.

TITLE I — DEFINITIONS & COORDINATION WITH ARIZONA LAW

Sec. 101. Definitions

  1. (a) “AZ-OSPB” means the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting.
  2. (b) “Publicly visible outcome” means a metric published under Sec. 201.
  3. (c) “MFCA” means Arizona’s Medicaid fraud-recovery authority under A.R.S. Sec. 36-2918 et seq.

Sec. 102. Coordination with Existing Arizona Law

  1. (a) Consistent with:
  • A.R.S. Title 41 Ch. 4 (State Personnel System).
  • A.R.S. Sec. 39-121 et seq. (Public Records).
  • A.R.S. Sec. 41-190 et seq. (OSPB).
  • A.R.S. Sec. 36-2918 et seq. (Medicaid fraud).

TITLE II — OUTCOME-BASED BUDGETING

Sec. 201. Outcome Metrics for Covered Programs

  1. (a) Each covered program in the Executive Budget shall publish at least three outcome metrics.
  2. (b) OSPB shall publish the Arizona Outcome Dashboard in machine-readable form.

Sec. 202. Fiscal-Note Outcome Integration

  1. (a) Joint Legislative Budget Committee analyses shall identify outcome metrics from Sec. 201.

TITLE III — CIVIL-SERVICE MERIT PROTECTIONS

Sec. 301. Codification of Performance-Standards Protections

  1. (a) A.R.S. Title 41 Ch. 4 is amended so that nothing precludes policy-influencing-position classifications with publicly posted performance standards.
  2. (b) Consistent with A.R.S. Sec. 41-742 (uncovered service).

TITLE IV — ARIZONA MEDICAID FRAUD QUI TAM (MFCA Rewire)

Sec. 401. Medicaid Fraud Qui Tam Authority

  1. (a) Given that Arizona does not have a general False Claims Act, this Title operates as a Medicaid-specific qui tam authority under A.R.S. Sec. 36-2918 et seq. and in coordination with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396b(q).

Sec. 402. Credentialing and Outcome-Data Fraud

  1. (a) A person presenting a materially false or fraudulent claim involving AZRMC, Federal FRAC, AZ-OBSA outcome data, or Medicaid-related credential claims is liable to the State for a civil penalty and treble damages.

Sec. 403. Whistleblower Award

  1. (a) A whistleblower whose information leads to recovery shall receive between 15 and 30 percent of the State recovery, as determined by the Attorney General.

TITLE V — IMPLEMENTATION & GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 501. Severability

If any provision is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect the remainder.

Sec. 502. Effective Date

This Act shall take effect the general effective date following the legislative session.

Canonical federal version: GT&P. Other Arizona bills: AZ-ACSA, AZ-MEWRA, AZ-AI-Workforce.