Federal Reports

Review of the FLRA's Compliance with the Payment Intregity Information Act of 2019 for Fiscal Year 2023

What We Looked At This report presents the results of our quality control review of Allmond & Company LLC’s (Allmond) management letter for its audit, conducted under contract with us, of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation’s (GLS) financial statements for fiscal year 2023. The management letter discusses two internal control matters that Allmond was not required to include in its audit report. What We Found Our quality control review of the management letter disclosed no instances in which Allmond did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted Government auditing standards. Our Recommendations Allmond made two recommendations in its management letter. GLS concurred with both recommendations. 

The objective of the audit was to assess the reliability, validity, and relevance of the quality control process employed by the Central Nonprofit Agencies (CNAs) and Nonprofit Agencies (NPAs) to correct product deficiencies prior to delivery.

During a review related to VA’s Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) pilot program, the OIG discovered VA is paying concurrent monthly housing allowance benefits to veterans who are simultaneously enrolled in Post 9/11 GI Bill and VET TEC educational programs. There is no statutory authority prohibiting concurrent payment to a veteran for Post-9/11 GI Bill and VET TEC educational benefits. However, the legislation that established VET TEC created an inconsistency compared to other VA educational benefits programs that prohibit concurrent payments of educational benefits. Congress introduced bills to continue VET TEC as a VA educational program in 2023. This memorandum is meant to convey the information necessary for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and Congress to determine if additional actions are warranted to address this inconsistency before the continuation of the program. The OIG team selected a sample of 30 unique veterans who simultaneously attended Post 9/11 GI Bill and VET TEC courses and found that all received concurrent monthly housing allowance payments. Those veterans received a total of about $164,500 in concurrent payments. Based on this sample, the team estimated about 208 veterans received concurrent payments from April 1, 2019, to February 28, 2023, for a total of $1.1 million. With the VET TEC pilot program ending in April 2024 and legislation pending to continue it as a VA educational program, VBA and Congress have an opportunity to consider whether new iterations of the VET TEC program should continue to allow veterans to receive concurrent monthly housing allowance payments while simultaneously attending Post 9/11 GI Bill and VET TEC programs.