Sen. Rick Scott Takes Action to Claw Back Taxpayer Dollars Wasted on Fraud

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senator Rick Scott introduced the Federal Taxpayer Funds Protection and Clawback Act to crack down on states' mismanagement of federal taxpayer dollars, as recently seen in Democrat-run states like Minnesota and California. This bill would allow the federal government to claw back money distributed through states and pass-through programs that support fraudulent activity.

Senator Rick Scott said, "Years of reckless spending in Washington have pushed our country over $38 trillion in debt, causing the cost of living to soar and leaving American families struggling to make ends meet. While President Trump is working hard to turn our economy around, Democrats in Washington and across the country make it harder when they look the other way as up to 10% of our federal budget goes toward waste, fraud, and abuse in their own backyards. What we're uncovering in Minnesota and California is just the start. At the end of the day, it is taxpayers whose money is wasted and who suffer from reduced services and broken trust.

"My Federal Taxpayer Funds Protection and Clawback Act holds states accountable by clawing back every dime wasted on fraud and redirecting these funds to pay off our national debt, getting us one step closer to balancing our budget and making sure every American's tax dollars are used to benefit them."

This bill will:

• Amend the False Claims Act (FCA) to ensure any federally sourced money falls under the authority and scrutiny of the FCA, including federally sourced money administered by a state or a pass-through program;
• Allow states to be held financially liable for misused funds;
• Establish a mandatory, accelerated clawback program for funds being investigated for potential fraud under the existing FCA process;
• Require states to follow existing laws regarding audits, inspections, record-keeping, and data-sharing in order to receive federal funds;
• Ensure federal funds do not go to organizations that employ illegal immigrants or other unauthorized workers, and requires any organization that violates this rule to send back any federal money, and face a possible ban on receiving future available funds; and
• Allow money that is clawed back to go toward paying down the national debt.

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