False Claims Act Correction Act of 2009
Latest action · May 5, 2009 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 44.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 30, 2009
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
False Claims Act Correction Act of 2009 - (Sec. 2) Amends the False Claims Act to revise requirements and procedures governing civil actions for false claims brought by private persons (qui tam actions).
Repeals the requirement that a false or fraudulent claim for payment must be presented directly to a federal employee or member of the Armed Forces (thus tying liability for such claims directly to federal money and property, regardless to whom the claim is presented ).
(Sec. 3) Revises requirements for alternate remedies affecting qui tam actions and related qui tam plaintiff awards.
Allows dismissal of a private action based upon prior public disclosures only upon timely motion to dismiss by the Attorney General.
Revises the prohibition of retaliatory action against whistleblowers to include materially hindering the person in obtaining new employment or other business opportunities.
Requires the government to pay from the proceeds of an action for financial losses suffered by administrative beneficiaries (thus permitting actions for fraud instituted against nontaxpayer funds under federal trust and administration).
(Sec. 4) Extends from six years to eight years the statute of limitations for bringing a civil action.
Requires the government, if it elects to intervene and proceed with an action, to file its own complaint, or amend the complaint of a person who brought a civil action, but in any event to relate the pleading back to the filing date of the original qui tam complaint to the extent that such claim arises out of the same set of facts.
Declares that a person bringing a private qui tam action shall not be required to identify specific claims that result from an alleged course of misconduct if: (1) the facts alleged in the complaint, if ultimately proven true, would provide a reasonable indication that one or more false claims are likely to have occurred; and (2) the allegations in the pleading provide adequate notice of the specific nature of the alleged misconduct to permit the government effectively to investigate and defendants fairly to defend such allegations.
Declares void any contracts, agreements, or private terms or conditions of employment that limit or circumvent the rights of a person to bring a qui tam action.
(Sec. 5) Declares further that no court-ordered seal on a qui tam action shall prevent the government or the person bringing the action from serving the complaint or related documents upon state or local law enforcement authorities.
(Sec. 6) Modifies procedures for civil investigative demands.
Cites circumstances in which the government may move to dismiss a qui tam action by a federal employee (who has, in effect, not exhausted administrative procedures for addressing the allegations in the false claim complaint).
Cosponsors 9
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 30, 2009 to May 5, 2009; 4 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-CA | Daniel E. Lungren | Original | Mar 30, 2009 |
| R-WI | F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. | Original | Mar 30, 2009 |
| D-MI | John Conyers, Jr. | Original | Mar 30, 2009 |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Original | Mar 30, 2009 |
| D-CA | Linda T. Sánchez | Mar 31, 2009 | |
| D-MS | Bennie G. Thompson | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| R-PA | Todd Russell Platts | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-CA | Brad Sherman | May 5, 2009 | |
| D-IA | Bruce L. Braley | May 5, 2009 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Mar 30, 2009Hearings Apr 1, 2009Markup Apr 28, 2009Reported May 5, 2009 |
Actions 7
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 5, 2009Reported by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 111-97.
- May 5, 2009Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 44.
- Apr 28, 2009Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Apr 28, 2009Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 20 - 6.
- Apr 1, 2009Committee Hearings Held.
- Mar 30, 2009Introduced in House
- Mar 30, 2009Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimates 2
- May 5, 2009H.R. 1788, False Claims Act Correction Act of 2009<p>Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on April 28, 2009</p>
- May 5, 2009H.R. 1788, False Claims Act Correction Act of 2009Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on April 28, 2009
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 111-51 | PROPOSALS TO FIGHT FRAUD AND PROTECT TAXPAYERS182 pages | Judiciary Committee | Apr 1, 2009 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the provisions of title 31, United States Code, relating to false claims to clarify and make technical amendments to those provisions, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- False Claims Act Correction Act of 2009
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Law.
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 5, 2009Reported in House
- Mar 30, 2009Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.