Why do PA taxpayers have to tighten their belts to bail out large corporations when we could let a state False Claims Act share some of the load? Honestly, why aren't PA's key politicos like Corbett, Rendell, Richmond, and Greenleaf making this happen? Everyone agrees we need the money. Forget poker machines, a PA FCA would bring some big dollars.
A state False Claims Act enables fraud dollars to be recovered for government coffers. 23 states already have them. New York, for example, passed a state FCA in 2007 and recovered 551 million in misspent Medicaid dollars the very next year. The federal False Claims Act has enabled the US treasury to recover more than 200 BILLION since 1986.
Several multi-million and even billion dollar settlements have resulted in tremendous increases in revenue for those states that have been smart enough to cash in. Pennsylvania, because it has no FCA, lost those opportunities.
Rep. Gerber of Montgomery County has repeatedly championed state FCA legislation, and a few versions have passed the PA House. Mysteriously, the Senate lets them die.
In other states, governors and Attorneys General have actively campaigned for passage of state FCAs. Not so in PA. While Governor Rendell gives lukewarm nods in support, a search of his website shows no activity or agenda item mentioning passage of a PA FCA. Same goes for Tom Corbett, except Corbett does not even give a nod.
Hopefully, no one is allowing special interests lobbying against a state FCA to victimize PA taxpayers. We really can't afford it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment