Representative Jeff Van Drew's PROOF Act Passes House, Aims to Combat Federal Program Fraud
The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 10326, known as the Preventing Rip-offs and Obtaining Oversight of Funds Act (PROOF Act), sponsored by New Jersey Representative Jeff Van Drew. The bill passed with a vote of 217-207, with six Democrats supporting it and one Republican opposing. This legislation mandates that states provide the Justice Department with information necessary to investigate alleged fraud within federally funded programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF. The scope of these records is strictly limited to fraud-related law enforcement purposes. Representative Van Drew emphasized that states should not impede fraud investigations when federal taxpayer dollars are involved. The bill has now been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee for further consideration. This measure is part of a cluster of bills recently approved by the House, many of which aim to strengthen anti-fraud efforts.
