Safeguarding Awards for Victims and Enforcement Settlements Act of 2022

Bill: 117-s-4444
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK]
Introduced: 2022-06-22
Policy area: Law
Latest action: action_date: 2022-06-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-06-22
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Safeguarding Awards for Victims and Enforcement Settlements Act of 2022 </b></p> <p>This bill prohibits the federal government from entering into or enforcing a settlement agreement on behalf of the United States that provides for a payment to any person or entity other than the United States that is not a party to a dispute. The bill provides exceptions to allow certain payments, including those that (1) remedy actual harm (including to the environment) caused by the party making the payment, and (2) constitute a payment for services rendered in connection with the case. </p>

tv_txt: II 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4444 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 22, 2022 Mr. Lankford (for himself, Mr. Inhofe , and Mr. Tillis ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To limit donations made pursuant to settlement agreements to which the United States is a party, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Safeguarding Awards for Victims and Enforcement Settlements Act of 2022 . 2. Limitation on donations made pursuant to settlement agreements to which the united states is a party (a) Limitation on required donations (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), an official or agent of the Government may not enter into or enforce any settlement agreement on behalf of the United States, directing or providing for a payment or loan, in cash or in kind, to any person or entity other than the United States that is not a party to the dispute. (2) Exceptions An official or agency of the Government may enter into or enforce a settlement agreement on behalf of the United States described in paragraph (1) only if— (A) the payment or loan provides restitution for or is otherwise intended to directly remedy actual harm (including to the environment) directly caused by the party making the payment or loan, and, to the extent any victim thereof was an identifiable person, suffered by the payee or lendee, which shall not include an agreement that requires a defendant in an environmental case, in lieu of payment to the Federal Government, to expend funds to provide goods or services to third parties for supplemental environmental projects; (B) the payment or loan constitutes payment for services rendered in connection with the case, including for settlement or compliance monitoring or for divestiture trustee services, or a payment pursuant to section 3663 of title 18, United States Code; (C) in cases of foreign official corruption, a trusted third party is required to facilitate the repatriation and use of funds to directly benefit those harmed by the foreign corruption; or (D) payment is expressly authorized by statute or regulation, including restitution and forfeiture. (b) Prohibition on cy-Pres redistributions in settlements Except as otherwise provided by law, when the United States has entered into a settlement involving a fund for payments to individual claimants, amounts remaining after all claims on the settlement fund have been satisfied shall be repaid proportionally to each party who contributed to the settlement fund. (c) Effective date Subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to any settlement agreement concluded on or after the date of enactment of this Act. (d) Reports on settlement agreements (1) In general Not later than September 30 of the first fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act, and of each fiscal year thereafter, the head of each Federal agency shall submit electronically to the Congressional Budget Office a report on each settlement agreement described in subsection (a)(1) entered into by that Federal agency during such fiscal year (other than a settlement agreement for a qui tam action or under section 586(a) of title 28, United States Code) that meets the requirements of an exception described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (a)(2), which shall include including the parties to each such settlement agreement, the source of the settlement funds, and where and how such funds were and will be distributed. (2) Prohibition on additional funding No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection. (3) Sunset This subsection shall cease to be effective on the date that is 7 years after the date of enactment of this Act. (e) Annual audit requirement (1) In general Not later than September 30 of the first fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act, and of each fiscal year thereafter, the Inspector General of each Federal agency shall submit a report on any settlement agreement entered into by that Federal agency during such fiscal year in violation of this section to— (A) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on the Budget, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on the Budget, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. (2) Prohibition on additional funding No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection. (f) Definitions In this section: (1) Payment The term payment means any transfer of money, cash, or other consideration, including constructive transfer in lieu of money. (2) Settlement agreement The term settlement agreement means a settlement agreement resolving a civil action or potential civil action, participation in any pretrial diversion program, a plea agreement, a deferred prosecution agreement, or a non-prosecution agreement.