Houston Daily

Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Vice Chair Monica De La Cruz, representing Texas' 15th district, has introduced the bipartisan Whistleblower Protection Act. The legislation, co-sponsored by Congresswoman Nikema Williams of Georgia's 5th district, aims to ensure that all Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contracts include whistleblower protections.

"Whistleblowers play a crucial role in safeguarding taxpayer dollars. This bipartisan legislation will ensure that all current HUD contracts – regardless of when they were created – include provisions to protect employees who come forward to disclose waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement of federal funds," stated Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz.

The need for this legislation arises from Section 4712 which strengthened whistleblower protections for federal contract employees. However, HUD contracts established before 2013 were not covered by these protections. The new bill seeks to address this gap by mandating that all HUD-related contracts incorporate these vital protections against retaliation for reporting issues such as waste, fraud, and abuse.