CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Sen. Tom James continued his push to get a whistleblower-related bill moving through the legislative process on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
James explained that he worked with the Department of Audit to create the bill, which he hoped would protect the state from potentially losing millions of dollars.
SF 70 would establish a reporting system for anyone looking to report governmental abuse, fraud or waste. The Wyoming Department of Audit director would have to establish a toll-free number and an online form for Wyoming residents to report anything unlawful. The reporting party would be kept anonymous from the person they are discussing, and there would be an option to report anonymously.
Department of Audit administrator Justin Chavez told Oil City News that if the bill is signed into law, his unit’s workload will increase significantly.
“We handle a handful of cases every year, and that’s been the average for about three years,” Chavez said.
But the department is looking at Montana as a model for this reporting program. Chavez explained that since Wyoming and Montana’s populations and styles of governing are similar, Montana is a perfect example for the reporting system.
“They have a hotline similar to what this bill would establish,” he said. “The only difference is that our department would have more of an investigative role.”
He couldn’t speak as to whether or not the bill will make it through the legislative process, but he said the department would continue to monitor its progress.
Former Medicaid watchdog Mark Gaskill testified on the bill’s importance during a Senate committee meeting last week.
“Please protect taxpayer dollars, please protect public servants, please protect Wyoming,” he said.
During the Senate’s Committee of the Whole meeting, James also explained a new amendment, which would allow the division director to hand off investigative duties to a person they deem suitable.
James felt it was appropriate to add a fiscal note to the bill, letting the Senate know there were funds available to add one more position to the division.
Some questions were brought up from senators inquiring more about the bill’s definition of “abuse,” which states it is “excessive or improper use of a thing or to use something in a manner contrary to the natural or legal rules for its use.” The senators focused on the use of the word “thing.”
James responded that this language came from the federal Inspector General’s website.
“It’s a good thing to have a reporting method,” Sen. Anthony Bouchard said during the afternoon floor session. “It’s not going to solve the entire problem, but this is a good start and it moves our state into new territory.”
Sen. Ogden Driskill expressed concern over whether or not this bill would create more government, noting that there was already a Medicaid fraud unit in Wyoming. He told the Senate that the unit’s duties were similar to what the bill was proposing and didn’t want to have redundant departments.
“It’s definitely not duplicating another agency,” James told the Senate before it voted on the bill. “This isn’t expanding a budget, because I think everyone in here knows how I feel about that. All this bill is doing is preventing any more waste of taxpayers’ money.”
The amendment was adopted and the bill was voted through the Committee of the Whole. It will go up for a second reading on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
This article originally appeared on Oil City News. Used with permission.