What Congress Can Learn from the DC Council

Some good news on the whistleblower protections front: Washington, DC will soon have some of the strongest whistleblower protection laws in the U.S.

After being introduced last year, the District's Whistleblower Protection Amendment Act of 2009 has been passed unanimously by the DC Council, signed by the Mayor, and is projected to become law this week — the only remaining hurdle is the mandated review by Congress.

One new provision is that government employees who retaliate against whistleblowers could now see their salaries withheld (perhaps a taste of a familiar medicine to those that respond to whistleblower concerns by demoting or re-assigning whistleblowers?).

Where did the Council get the idea for such a tool? According to members of the DC Council, it was none other than POGO's congressional oversight training manual, which we shared with several Council staffers who attended our Congressional Oversight Training Series seminars. From page 29: 

The Whistleblower Protection Blog has put together a good breakdown of other helpful measures in the Act.  Hopefully the renewal of whistleblower protection laws in DC will encourage local governments across the nation to modernize their own laws, in addition to deterring misconduct towards whistleblowers here in the District.

-- Team POGO


You can find more handy tips related to congressional oversight in POGO's new book, The Art of Congressional Oversight: A User's Guide to Doing It Right, now available in POGO's online store.

Comments

[Scott]

Good job DC Council...by the way, thank you for sharing. Your efforts help my efforts.
Sincerely,
SCOTT