The US House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee approved HR 1996, the Government Litigation Savings Act, on Nov. 17 by 19 to 14 votes.
Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) said the 1980 Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), which HR 1996 would amend, was originally designed to help individuals and small businesses recover some of their legal costs when they successfully sued the federal government.
"Whether the act is still mainly serving its original, legitimate purpose is in doubt," Smith said, adding, "Certain frequent litigants—particularly 501(c)(3) corporations that enjoy the additional benefit of being exempt from [EAJA's] net worth limitation—are financing their lawsuits with large awards of attorney's fees paid under the act."
Smith contended that US taxpayers should not be forced to pay legal fees when awards are made in ideologically driven lawsuits by organizations trying to advance their policy preferences through litigation.
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), HR 1996's sponsor, applauded the committee's action. "The use of taxpayer dollars to fund the ever-growing list of procedural lawsuits must be put to a stop," she said.
"EAJA was never intended to support the work of multimillion dollar organizations with in-house litigation shops. Instead, it was supposed to help those with no litigation shop at all."
The Western Energy Alliance strongly supports the bill. "We feel that litigation funded by the taxpayer is preventing jobs, stifling economic growth, and stopping energy development," said Kathleen Sgamma, the Denver-based independent producers association's government affairs director.
Slowing development
"Any time a decision is made to proceed with oil and gas development, there is an environmental group, funded by taxpayer money, that is trying to stop that development," Sgamma told OGJ on Nov. 18.
She said, "Litigation, or the threat of litigation, is slowing down oil and gas development in the West on a regular basis, and preventing jobs and economic growth."
The committee amended HR 1996 by expanding the eligibility requirement to ensure that all individuals, small businesses, veterans and social security claimants can file for EAJA reimbursement as long as they are underneath the statutory cap of a net worth of $7 million for organizations and $2 million for individuals.
Reimbursements would be limited to $200,000 in any single legal action, or to three lawsuits initiated in a single calendar year in most cases.
HR 1996 also would restore EAJA's original requirement, which Congress removed in 1994, for an annual report of awards, claims, and any other information that might help federal lawmakers evaluate their scope and impact. The report also would be publicly available online.
The measure now heads to the House floor, where it might pass. Senate consideration is unlikely, however.
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