Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S2050 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1151 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2050
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Marc R. Pacheco
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act improving the internal controls within state agencies.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Marc R. PachecoThird Bristol and PlymouthDiana DiZoglio, Massachusetts State
16	16	Auditor
17	17	1 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA
18	18	02108
19	19	Tackey Chan2nd Norfolk1/30/2023 1 of 3
20	20	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1151 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
21	21	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2050
22	22	By Mr. Pacheco, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2050) of Marc R. Pacheco, Diana
23	23	DiZoglio, Massachusetts State Auditor and Tackey Chan for legislation to improve the internal
24	24	controls within state agencies. State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
25	25	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
26	26	SEE SENATE, NO. 2095 OF 2021-2022.]
27	27	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
28	28	_______________
29	29	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
30	30	(2023-2024)
31	31	_______________
32	32	An Act improving the internal controls within state agencies.
33	33	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
34	34	of the same, as follows:
35	35	1 SECTION 1. Section 9A of chapter 7A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
36	36	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by deleting lines 9 through 14, the second paragraph.
37	37	3 SECTION 2. Chapter 7A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition,
38	38	4is hereby amended by inserting, after section 19, the following new section:-
39	39	5 Section 20. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the comptroller,
40	40	6in consultation with the state auditor, shall publish regulations to establish reporting
41	41	7requirements as well as internal control standards which shall define the minimum level of
42	42	8quality acceptable for internal control systems in operation throughout the various state agencies
43	43	9and departments and shall constitute the criteria against which such internal control systems will 2 of 3
44	44	10be evaluated. Internal control systems, the components of which should include an internal
45	45	11control plan, a risk assessment, policies, procedures and training requirements, for the various
46	46	12state agencies and departments of the Commonwealth shall be developed, documented and
47	47	13readily accessible in accordance with internal control guidelines established by the office of the
48	48	14comptroller.
49	49	15 Within each agency there shall be an official, equivalent in title or rank to an assistant or
50	50	16deputy to the department head, whose responsibility, in addition to his regularly assigned duties,
51	51	17shall be to ensure that the agency has written documentation of its internal control system on file.
52	52	18Said official shall, annually, or more often as conditions warrant, evaluate the effectiveness of
53	53	19the agency's internal control system and establish and implement changes necessary to ensure
54	54	20that: (1) the documentation of all internal control systems is readily available for examination by
55	55	21the comptroller, the secretary of administration and finance and the state auditor, (2) the results
56	56	22of audits and recommendations to improve departmental internal controls are promptly evaluated
57	57	23by the agency management, (3) timely and appropriate corrective actions are effected by the
58	58	24agency management in response to an audit and (4), all actions determined by the agency
59	59	25management as necessary to correct or otherwise resolve matters will be addressed by the agency
60	60	26in their budgetary request to the general court.
61	61	27 The comptroller shall prepare and update from time to time a training program, which the
62	62	28office shall publish on its official website, a program which shall provide a general introduction
63	63	29and training on the requirements of this section.
64	64	30 SECTION 3. Chapter 11 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition,
65	65	31is hereby amended by inserting, after section 12, the following two new sections:- 3 of 3
66	66	32 Section 12A. In coordination with the comptroller of the commonwealth and regulations
67	67	33established pursuant to section 20 of chapter 7A, all unaccounted for variances, losses, shortages,
68	68	34intentional violation of general laws governing commonwealth financial system operations and
69	69	35controls, or thefts of funds or property shall be immediately reported to the state auditor's office,
70	70	36who shall review the matter. Said auditor shall consider the materiality, risk, and nature of the
71	71	37matter reported, as well as the nature and extent of past reports involving the entity, to determine
72	72	38the level of review. Should a formal review be initiated, said auditor shall report to appropriate
73	73	39management and law enforcement officials a determination of the amount involved and the
74	74	40internal control weakness that contributed to or caused the condition. Said auditor shall then
75	75	41make recommendations to the agency official overseeing the internal control system and other
76	76	42appropriate management officials. The recommendations of said auditor shall address the
77	77	43correction of the conditions found and the necessary internal control policies and procedures that
78	78	44must be modified. The agency oversight official and the appropriate management officials shall
79	79	45immediately implement policies and procedures necessary to prevent a recurrence of the
80	80	46problems identified.
81	81	47 Section 12B. A commonwealth authority defined in section 1 of Chapter 29 performing a
82	82	48public function that does not receive direct appropriations from the commonwealth, not
83	83	49otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the comptroller, but subject to audit under section 12 of
84	84	50chapter 11, is required to comply with all the requirements of section 20 of chapter 7A.
85	85	51 SECTION 4. Section 5O of chapter 12 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016
86	86	52official Edition, is hereby amended by deleting, in line 3, the words “chapter 647 of the acts of
87	87	531989” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- section 20 of chapter 7A and section
88	88	5412A of chapter 11