HB 618

Abstract

Amends the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act. Provides that the State of Illinois shall also receive an amount for reasonable expenses that the court finds to have been necessarily incurred by the Attorney General, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, and the amount received by the State of Illinois, exclusive of any proceeds, reasonable expenses, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs that have been awarded to a Qui Tam plaintiff or any entity other than the State of Illinois or a State agency, shall be deposited in the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Fund created under the Act. Requires (instead of permits) the court to award all proceeds of an action or settlement of the claim to the affected governmental entity, minus reasonable expenses, attorneys' fees, costs, and proceeds that have been awarded to a Qui Tam plaintiff and minus an amount for reasonable expenses that the court finds to have been necessarily incurred by the Attorney General, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs (instead of such sums as it considers appropriate to the affected entity, specifying in its order the amount to be awarded to the entity from the net proceeds that are deposited in the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Fund), when an action is brought on behalf of any of the listed governmental entities that have been adversely affected by a defendant. Excludes from any payment of proceeds the reasonable expenses, reasonable attorneys' fees, and costs to a Qui Tam plaintiff or any governmental entity other than the State of Illinois from being deposited in the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Fund. Restructures the use of the money in the Fund to pay the necessary expenses incurred by the Attorney General and for the payment of awards to the State of Illinois (instead of for payment of awards to Qui Tam plaintiffs).