Merit Institute Merit

The Pennsylvania Government Transparency & Performance Act (PA-GT&P)

Pennsylvania state companion to GT&P. Extends State Civil Service Commission (71 P.S.), PA Right-to-Know Law (65 P.S. Sec. 67.101 et seq.), and PA Medicaid fraud recovery (62 P.S. Sec. 1407 et seq.).

THE PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY & PERFORMANCE ACT (PA-GT&P)

Vehicle: State passage. Pennsylvania General Assembly, regular session. Primary referral to House / Senate State Government / Appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

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

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT

The General Assembly finds that Pennsylvania’s State Civil Service Commission operates under 71 P.S. (Civil Service Reform Act of 2018); that the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law operates under 65 P.S. Sec. 67.101 et seq.; that the Governor’s Office of the Budget administers the Executive Budget; that the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee and the Independent Fiscal Office provide fiscal analysis; that Pennsylvania does not have a general False Claims Act but recovers Medicaid fraud under 62 P.S. Sec. 1407 et seq. (Medical Assistance Program false claims provisions); and that the Medicaid Fraud Control Section 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 PENNSYLVANIA LAW

Sec. 101. Definitions

  1. (a) “PA-OB” means the Governor’s Office of the Budget.
  2. (b) “Publicly visible outcome” means a metric published under Sec. 201.
  3. (c) “MFCA” means Pennsylvania’s Medicaid fraud-recovery authority under 62 P.S. Sec. 1407 et seq.

Sec. 102. Coordination with Existing Pennsylvania Law

  1. (a) Consistent with:
  • 71 P.S. (State Civil Service Commission).
  • 65 P.S. Sec. 67.101 et seq. (Right-to-Know Law).
  • 72 P.S. Sec. 4811 (Executive Budget).
  • 62 P.S. Sec. 1407 et seq. (Medical Assistance 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) The Governor’s Office of the Budget shall publish the Pennsylvania Outcome Dashboard in machine-readable form.

Sec. 202. Fiscal-Note Outcome Integration

  1. (a) Legislative Budget and Finance Committee and Independent Fiscal Office fiscal analyses shall identify outcome metrics from Sec. 201.

TITLE III — CIVIL-SERVICE MERIT PROTECTIONS

Sec. 301. Codification of Performance-Standards Protections

  1. (a) 71 P.S. is amended so that nothing precludes policy-influencing-position classifications with publicly posted performance standards.

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

Sec. 401. Medicaid Fraud Qui Tam Authority

  1. (a) Given that Pennsylvania does not have a general False Claims Act, this Title operates as a Medicaid-specific qui tam authority under 62 P.S. Sec. 1407 et seq. and in coordination with the Medicaid Fraud Control Section 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 PARMC, Federal FRAC, PA-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 60 days following enactment.

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