In February, TWI’s Daphne Eviatar called attention to the weak protections in the federal economic stimulus bill for whistleblowers who expose contracting
“„[T]he stimulus bill fails to adequately protect employees of government contractors, who are in the best position to blow the whistle on fraud and abuse of taxpayer money. The Senate version of the bill also doesn’t protect federal employee whistleblowers — an odd oversight given that state and local employees are protected. And neither version explains how the government is going to ramp up its own hiring quickly enough to oversee and coordinate all these new government contracts.
“„This new law fixes problems in the False Claims Act, extends whistleblower protections to those who work for contractors and provides new funds for the government to investigate fraud. Most significantly, the Act overturns the recent Supreme Court decision in Allison Engine, which created a major loophole allowing government subcontractors to escape liability under federal anti-fraud laws.
“„“President Obama has taken a significant first step in changing America’s whistleblower laws. We hope he continues to fulfill his campaign promises on this issue,” Kohn stated.
“„“We are especially happy that the new law will extend whistleblower protection to independent contractors, sub-contractors and all those who risk their career to expose fraud. No company should be allowed to hide behind loopholes in the law to rip off the taxpayer,” Kohn said.