The D.C. Council is once again preparing to
consider legislation (B23-0035; the False Claims Amendment Act of
2019) that would authorize tax-based false claims actions, allowing
private, profit-motivated parties to bring punitive civil
enforcement lawsuits—a practice that is prohibited under
current law consistent with the vast majority of other states with
similar laws.
The Committee of the Whole is expected to consider the bill at
its committee mark-up meeting on Tuesday, January 21, and we
understand that it will closely resemble the bill that was
introduced early last year, which in turn closely resembles prior
iterations of the legislative proposal (e.g., the False
Claims Amendment Act of 2013, the False Claims Amendment Act of
2016 and the False Claims Amendment Act of 2017).
