WASHINGTON — A group of good-government and whistleblower groups have written to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to express support for his bill, S. 3011, the Bolster Accountability to Drive Government Efficiency and Reform Washington Act.
The Office of Special Counsel, the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight (POGO), the Government Accountability Project, the National Taxpayers Union, Public Citizen, and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance wrote to praise the BADGER Washington Act for protecting whistleblowers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and across the federal government, for giving federal watchdogs the tools they need to root out waste, fraud and abuse, and for reforming leave policies to force agencies to efficiently investigate and take any necessary personnel actions against their employees.
Last week, Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced the government reform package that includes 19 bills that have already been approved by voice vote or unanimous roll call vote in his committee this Congress.
In a letter of support, the National Taxpayers Union, Public Citizen and other whistleblower protection groups wrote, “From stronger penalties for retaliation against whistleblowers, to additional prohibited personnel practices and improved training, we share your commitment to protect whistleblowers through passage of these important reforms.”
POGO wrote, “We strongly support your bill’s inclusion of provisions to strengthen penalties for retaliating against whistleblowers and improve training for supervisors. We also support provisions to hold supervisors who retaliate accountable by stopping the practice of rewarding bad behavior through bonus pay to employees who engage in misconduct. . . . POGO is proud to support the reforms to whistleblower protections and the operations of IG offices across the government included in your bill, and we urge others to do the same.”
The Office of Special Counsel wrote that the bill will “promote stronger whistleblower protections and help to curb government waste, fraud, and abuse. … The committee’s government reform legislation … will have a positive impact on good government.”
- The whistleblower protection groups letter can be found here.
- The POGO letter can be found here.
- The OSC letter can be found here.
The bill text can be found here.
###