By Hailey Konnath

Law360 (June 15, 2020, 10:13 PM EDT) -- A trio of Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Monday that aims to protect whistleblowers who expose the misuse of government funds intended for COVID-19 relief efforts, according to the bill.

The COVID-19 Whistleblower Protection Act was introduced by Reps. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., along with Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. The legislation institutes strong whistleblower protections for employees or former employees of recipients of funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or other similar legislation meant to soften the blow of the pandemic, according to a statement from Raskin's office.

The measure was included in the larger Coronavirus Oversight and Recovery Ethics, or CORE, Act, which was introduced by another group of Senate and House Democrats on Monday. It's the first COVID-19-related whistleblower bill introduced since the pandemic hit the country earlier this year.

Speier, who co-chairs the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, said in the statement that whistleblowers save American taxpayers billions of dollars each year.

"Frontline workers have been the true heroes of this pandemic, and we must protect those who have the courage to come forward to uncover waste, fraud and abuse," she said.

Harris added in a statement that the American people "must be able to trust that pandemic relief funds are providing much-needed assistance to the American people."

"Those working to help manage these funds have an obligation to speak truth when they see wrongdoing and deserve to be protected when they do," she said.

Specifically, the whistleblower bill protects disclosures related to gross mismanagement, danger to public health or safety, abuse of authority, or violation of laws, rules or regulations. It also creates a legal framework providing administrative relief, giving the U.S. Department of Labor the ability to investigate whistleblower retaliation claims from non-federal employees or contractors, the legislators said Monday.

Raskin said in a statement that people desperately need the financial aid provided by the CARES Act and other pandemic response bills.

"We cannot afford to have these precious relief dollars swept up by scammers, conmen and cheats," she said. "We must give real protection to whistleblowers who are brave enough to speak out when they see our tax dollars being misused or stolen."

Stephen M. Kohn, chairman of the National Whistleblower Center's board of directors and a partner at whistleblower firm Kohn Kohn & Colapinto, called the act "a major step forward."

"The bill permits whistleblowers who suffer retaliation to report COVID-19-related violations and to file a case in federal court and obtain compensatory and exemplary damages," he said in the statement. "These are among some of the 'best practices' affirmed in the bill."

The measure has the backing of major organizations and whistleblower advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, National Whistleblower Center, Government Accountability Project and Public Citizen, according to the statement.

Tom Devine, legal director for the Government Accountability Project, said in a statement that the bill is "just what the doctor ordered for accountability of stimulus spending programs."

"Now that the government is injecting trillions, whistleblowers are more essential than ever as the human factor that is America's best weapon against corruption," he said.

The broader CORE Act would add extra oversight, accountability and transparency to the federal government's coronavirus relief efforts, according to a separate statement from Harris' office. Harris was a sponsor on that measure, as were Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Chris Coons, D-Del., and Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and John Sarbanes, D-Md.

In particular, the legislation addresses and eliminates conflicts of interest in the selection of contractors and advisors, and in the distribution of relief grants and loans. It also protects inspectors general from being removed from their posts without good cause and gives the Congressional Oversight Commission subpoena authority, according to the bill's text.

Warren said in the statement that the measure "would empower independent oversight, protect whistleblowers, and stop government-sanctioned corruption and profiteering to ensure the health and safety of Americans come first."

--Editing by Steven Edelstone.

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