Investigate Alleged Violations of False Claims Act

Second Regular Session Seventy-fifth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED HJR26-1029 LLS NO. R26-0981.01 Shelby Ross x4510 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Bottoms, SENATE SPONSORSHIP (None), House Committees Senate Committees State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 26-1029 CONCERNING INVESTIGATING ALLEGATIONS OF VIOLATIONS OF THE "COLORADO FALSE CLAIMS ACT".

WHEREAS, Credible evidence exists that whistleblowers, witnesses, and public officials within Colorado state and local governments are being systematically intimidated and retaliated against through the misuse of public resources and the select prosecution or nonprosecution of the wrongdoers involved; and WHEREAS, Examples of the systematic misconduct involved include patterns of alleged corruption within the Colorado judicial branch, alleged interference with the 2024 presidential election, publicly funded self-investigations of various incidents of alleged official misconduct, nondisclosure and hush money agreements valued at over $4 million negotiated between the Colorado Office of the Attorney General Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.

Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing law. Dashes through the words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law.

and other state agencies and public officials, and the allegedly invalid approval of an urban renewal authority estimated to divert $155 million of tax revenues over 25 years; and WHEREAS, These circumstances present probable cause and a reasonable basis to suspect violations of both Colorado and federal law; and WHEREAS, Under the "Colorado False Claims Act", a person is liable to the state or a political subdivision of the state if the person submits certain fraudulent claims to the state or political subdivision, and the Attorney General or a private person may bring a civil action against a person who made the fraudulent claim; and WHEREAS, Because of conflicts of interests, the Colorado Attorney General and the entire Colorado Department of Law are unable to impartially enforce the "Colorado False Claims Act"; and WHEREAS, Twenty-two other states and the District of Columbia have their own equivalent civil false claims acts, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Vermont; and WHEREAS, The Denver office and Wyoming office of the United States Department of Justice also have conflicts of interest related to individuals involved in the alleged public corruption, and those conflicts impede impartial investigations of the factual circumstances; now, therefore, Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:

That we, the members of the General Assembly:

(1) Shall submit a formal request to the United States Department of Justice to assign an office other than the Denver or Wyoming offices to complete a conflict-free investigation of the alleged public corruption within Colorado state and local governments;

(2) Pursuant to section 24-31-111 (5), shall designate and appoint another state's attorney general from one of the other states or the District of Columbia with equivalent civil false claims acts as a Special Assistant Attorney General charged with investigating and representing the State of Colorado's interests in the alleged violation of the "Colorado False Claims Act" and other laws, which representation must be paid for through money already appropriated to the Colorado Department of Law; and

(3) In accordance with Joint Rule 41, shall request that the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate appoint a joint select committee comprised of members of both chambers to implement and effectuate this resolution.

Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this Joint Resolution be sent to Governor Jared Polis and the United States Attorney General.