(The Center Square) – A quick-moving bill that would institute a state-level false claims law passed the House Wednesday with bipartisan support.
The legislation modeled after the Federal False Claims Act promises to help the state recover millions, though critics balked at the speed with which it moved.
Specifically, the bill would create a framework for the Attorney General to pursue waste, fraud and abuse within the Human Services code. It would protect whistleblowers who file false claim suits and allow the state to receive more from successful federal false claim suits.
“It’s not enough to send these bad actors to jail while leaving millions on the table,” said the bill’s sponsor Rep. Frank Burns, D-Johnstown. “We need to make sure that every last nickel pilfered from the taxpayers via deception is recouped so it can be properly spent improving the lives of Pennsylvanians.”
“This legislation empowers both the Attorney General and private whistleblowers to expose fraud against the Commonwealth and hold bad actors accountable,” said Rep. Tim Briggs, D-King of Prussia, who chairs the Judiciary committee.
House Bill 1697 was introduced on July 2nd and reported from the Judiciary committee on Monday July 7th where it passed on partisan lines.
“This is a commonsense, taxpayer-first bill that will finally give Pennsylvania the tools we need to crack down on fraud and recover millions in misused public funds,” said Briggs on passing the bill through committee.
On Tuesday July 8th, the bill passed second consideration despite a motion to postpone made by Republican Rep. Charity Grimm-Krupa of Smithfield. Four Republican proposed amendments were also tabled during the session.
“We should allow debate in this House, the people’s house,” said Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Montoursville, who was among a growing chorus of Republicans frustrated by Democratic tabling throughout the legislative session.
The bill saw final passage Wednesday with a vote of 136-67. Several Republicans spoke in support of the bill, pointing out the success of similar legislation in 29 other states.
Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Quarryville, recounted instances of fraud he’d seen in his own work in radiology. Meanwhile, a federal claim against a Pennsylvania woman identified $1.1 million in fraud from a Medicaid kickback scheme last week. Supporters of the bill say that in these circumstances, Pennsylvania isn’t getting back its share of what’s been stolen.
“When we have a national false claims act at the national level, we miss out on a 10 percent share because we don’t have a claim here,” said Rep. Seth Grove, R-York. “That’s millions of dollars we’ve lost in the last 10 years.”
Minority Leader Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford voted against the bill, though he said that he supports the ideas behind it and would like to see additional work put into its language, leaving the door open for changes to be made on the Senate floor.
