A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers announced Monday legislation that would encourage reporting of waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars and protect whistleblowers from retaliation.
Sen. Lindsey M. Williams (D-Allegheny) is the prime sponsor of the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Act, and House Republican Government Oversight Committee Chair Seth Grove (R-York) will introduce companion legislation in the House.
“Only about 2% of fraud is detected by law enforcement, while about 40% is detected by a tip,” Williams said. “So even when our Attorney General and Auditor General are doing a fantastic job, they will still only catch 2% of fraud unless we can encourage people to tip off law enforcement. As both a whistleblower myself and as an attorney who worked with whistleblowers for years, I can tell you that people want to do the right thing and report fraud when they see it. But there are a lot of risks in doing so. They can lose their job, their healthcare, and their pension all in one fell swoop.”
Williams and Grove were joined by Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (D-York), House Democratic Appropriations Chair Matthew Bradford (D-Montgomery) and Representatives Wendi Thomas (R-Bucks), Valerie Gaydos (R-Allegheny), Clint Owlett (R-Tioga, Bradford, Potter) and Tommy Sankey (R-Clearfield, Cambria) in announcing the legislation.
“I applaud Attorney General Shapiro for bringing to light the glaring problems our Medicaid program faces,” Grove said. “Every misspent or fraudulently used dollar is another dollar hardworking taxpayers have to make up for. It is now up to the Legislature to get to work and fix these problems.”