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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 2, 2023 09:23 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Lindsey M. Williams and Sen. Katie J. Muth |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Pennsylvania Whistleblower Appreciation Day |
| We will soon introduce a resolution recognizing July 30, 2023 as “Pennsylvania Whistleblower Appreciation Day”. This resolution reflects our shared commitment to strengthen the Commonwealth’s whistleblower laws and to appreciate the brave individuals who deserve our protection. Whistleblowers provide critical information that leads to the recovery of millions of dollars of taxpayer money every single year. Without their bravery in coming forward, this money would be lost to waste, fraud, and abuse. Because nearly half of all fraud is discovered by tip—by a whistleblower coming forward—these individuals are integral to ensuring accountability and transparency in government. A little history: On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress unanimously passed the first whistleblower legislation in the United States, stating that “it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States, as well as all other the inhabitants thereof, to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states, which may come to their knowledge.” Nearly 100 years later in 1863, the Federal False Claims Act was enacted when soldiers in the Civil War received rotten food, sickly mules, and defective weapons. When Congress investigated this rampant fraud, they discovered that whistleblowers who tried to come forward were threatened into silence. Modern-day whistleblowers face the same problems as their Civil War counterparts did 160 years ago— and, unfortunately, in Pennsylvania we don’t have strong anti-retaliation laws to protect them. Instead, whistleblowers stand to lose their jobs, their pensions, and their healthcare, all because they came forward to protect us and our tax dollars. The General Assembly should support the brave individuals who choose to speak out and strengthen laws that allow them to raise issues without fear of retaliation. Please join us in celebrating whistleblowers and reaffirming that government should be transparent and accountable to the people. |
Introduced as SR139